Imagine this: you’re watching a movie on your laptop when suddenly a pop up shows up at the corner of the screen. “WINDOWS HAS DETECTED A THREAT!” it screams.
Either you go into full panic mode, not knowing what to do or you ignore it and go back to watching the movie. It’s likely a threat from an ad you accidentally clicked on whilst browsing a movie streaming site earlier.
It’s all right. Your anti-virus will take care of everything.
Or will it?
It’s good to be confident and trust your antivirus software but unfortunately, cyber criminals are becoming more and more cunning by the day. Some cyber criminals even disguise their malware software as the default Google homepage.
The only way to prevent your computer from getting infected and protecting your privacy is by learning more about the different types of malware threats.
Here are the different types you should be aware of:
Adware
Adware is a term used to describe malware disguised as advertisements. They can be in the form of banners of phishing/email scams. What adware does is collect information about the types of websites you visit.
This allows certain advertisers to display unwanted ads on every website you visit. What makes adware frustrating is that it can also pop up as an advertisement for getting rid of adware!
These are intrusive pop-ups and can be stressful to deal with. They can also affect your computer’s performance, making it slow.
Spyware
Spyware is similar to adware but it sneakily installs itself in your computer. As the name suggests, it spies on your daily activities, sending information to cyber criminals. Therefore, it’s developed to spy on your computer to obtain your bank account details and other private, sensitive information.
Worms
What makes worms extremely frustrating to deal with is the fact that cyber criminals design them to replicate over time. They can clone themselves quickly, before you can detect them. This ends up in damage to your computer. They spread through different applications by hiding in specific files—usually the ones you download.
Trojan
The Trojan is very interesting because it’s designed after the Ancient Greek story of the wooden horse! And as the name suggests, it disguises itself as a friendly, secure antivirus, only to affect previous information. It can also affect your IP address; take over personal data, passwords, and bank account details.
These are just some of the many viruses you should be aware about.
Think Technologies Group is a leading IT service provider offering managed IT, Voice-over-IP, project consulting and network security solutions to organizations in the FL area.
We specialize in providing managed IT and PC network solutions for small and large businesses in Hollywood, Ocala – Corporate and Gainesville, Florida.
Fully certified and licensed, our team will make sure that your malfunctioning IT systems are up and running in no time!