Tips to deal with malware

How do you know that you have malware on your computer?

You can look out for the following signs which can indicate that you have malware on your computer^¹:

• Your computer runs slowly.
• Your computer drains its battery quickly.
• Your computer displays unexpected errors or crashes.
• Your computer won't shutdown or restart.
• Your computer serves a lot of popups.
• Your computer takes you to web pages you didn't visit, changes your home page, or creates new icons or toolbars without your permission.
• Your computer has unexplained data loss.

 What can you do to protect your computer from malware?²

• You can install a security software/antivirus protection from a reliable company and a firewall.
• You can get an anti-spyware software, which combats spyware from being installed.
• You can always keep your security software up-to-date.
• You can update your operating system regularly.
• You should NOT buy security software in response to unexpected calls or messages, especially if they say they scanned your computer and found malware. 
• You can increase your browser security settings.
• You can avoid questionable Web sites.
• You should only download software from sites you trust.
• You can carefully evaluate free software and file-sharing applications before downloading them.  
• You should shouldn't open messages and links from unknown senders.
• You can immediately delete messages you suspect to be spam.
• You can use a pop up blocker, and don't click on links and popups.

What can you do if you suspect malware on your computer?

If you suspect malware on your computer, you should stop doing activities that require passwords or other personal information, such as online shopping or banking. You should use a different computer than yours to change your passwords. Then you should update your security software and run a system scan and delete files it flags as malware.

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