Random Computer Viruses You May Have and What to Do about Them (10 items)

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  (#6) Ransomware

  What It Does: Imagine everything on your computer being kidnapped and held for ransom. That’s exactly what ransomware does, locking you out of your own data and forcing you to pay hundreds of dollars by a non-negotiable deadline. If you miss the deadline, the decryption key is deleted and you lose everything. Even though it’s technically a Trojan Horse, not a virus, this malware is scary enough that you’ll want to protect against it.

  How You Probably Caught It: By downloading a file or application from an untrusted source. This sort of malware can also exploit weaknesses in your network security.

  Tip: In addition to taking care with downloads, take precautions like disabling remote desktop protocol (if you use a PC), filtering .EXEs in your email, showing hidden file extensions, and backing up frequently, preferably with a security product like Backup Exec.
  
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  (#5) Script Virus

  What It Does: If all it did was reset your homepage, redirect your searches, or cause infinite pop-ups, a script virus would just be annoying. Since it does those things and can also hijack any information you enter online, however, a script virus is a legit threat. Script viruses are plentiful, to say the very least. These simple little buggers are everywhere and often go undetected by casual cruisers of the web. 

  How You Probably Caught It: You can catch these just by clicking on infected web advertisements, even from sites you trust.

  Tip: Antivirus software should catch everything, but you can identify script viruses by looking for files that have double suffixes, with an additional .vbs, .vbe, or .js tacked on to the end of a file name. 
  
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  (#4) Botnet

  What It Does: You know all that annoying spam? There's a strong chance that your computer is sending spam, just one of the millions of unprotected machines conscripted into a botnet or zombie army. Technically, botnets aren't viruses, but once this malware is in your system, your computer is part of a network carrying out nefarious activities like spamming, identity theft, industrial espionage, extortion, and who knows what else. There are no symptoms, so your computer could be spamming for days, months, or even years, and you'd have no idea that you've been part of a zombie army until your identity's been stolen or your bank account's been ransacked.

  How You Probably Caught It: Most bots are home computers with high-speed internet connections not protected by an adequate firewall. A Trojan Horse slips in through an open port and then you're part of a botnet. 

  Tip: Run an anti-malware app for sure, but you can also investigate your software firewall logs for any unusual approvals or activity and reset your firewall rules to be sure.
  
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  (#2) Slow-Infecting Resident Virus

  What It Does: This one's like a houseguest you didn't even know was sleeping at your place, waiting until he's turned your whole family against you before burning your house down. A resident virus hides in your computer’s memory and wipes out data that you don't even realize is gone until you go looking. If you had a fast infector, you’d probably know by now, because they corrupt as many files as possible as rapidly as possible. These slow infectors, on the other hand, stay hidden by infecting only certain files at certain times, slowly chipping away at everything you save until there's nothing left.

  How You Probably Caught It: By downloading a file or application, whether as an attachment, an illegal download, or a download from a disreputable source distributing malware. Once it was in your memory, it loaded a replication module in your operating system. You can protect your memory with Norton Antivirus, at a discount, on us!

  
  
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  (#1) Macro Virus

  What It Does: Every time you open Word, you could be spreading one of these nasty little numbers. They infect all the documents on your hard drive, inserting unwanted text into every one and often making them unreadable. And the virus can send itself to everyone in your address book via email, turning you against your friends. A relatively new form of virus, this does just what the name implies, infecting macros in word processing programs. If a macro virus infects Word or Excel, for example, it will replicate itself in every Word or Excel document you create, scrambling the text and info in each one.

  How You Probably Caught It: Being incautious when opening email attachments or unfamiliar documents.

  Tip: Keeping current on security updates is especially important because macro viruses are so new and tough to detect using out of date software.

  
  
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  (#10) Directory Virus

  What It Does: Directory viruses basically lose your stuff, and anyone who habitually loses their keys can tell you just how troublesome that can be. One of these could be doing damage at this very moment, right under your nose. You wouldn’t know it until you went for files that have become impossible to locate. These viruses change the directory paths that indicate locations, so they're effectively lost even though they still exist. 

  How You Probably Caught It: Once you've downloaded software with this malicious code, it went straight to your DOS directory information and started rerouting to the virus code. Protect yourself from all these computer security treats with Norton Antivirus!

  Tip: If you have caught a directory virus, as with a script virus, you’ll have to restore your files from backup (manually or through an antivirus program).
  

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