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[Active8IT]

Ok so they aren’t actually Monsters but they can be as scary and unwelcome.

If you aren’t sure what Malware is or if you are but would like to know more; read on as there will be some handy hints on how to slay the beast!

So Malware in a nutshell means MALicious SoftWARE. It come in the form of Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses, Zombies, Adware, and Spyware the list goes on and on, (and yes I suppose they do sound like Monsters).These are basically all the things that will try and to contaminate your PC’s and in turn, gather sensitive information whether it be - legal, financial and/or business files.

Of course this is something that any company would want to avoid like the plague. So how to recognise a threat…

Have you ever had a pop up on your screen asking you to download an update? Or you must install the programme in order to proceed with an application or file?

The likely chances are that you have seen these and probably way more than once! Every one of these, even if it looks like it is from a legitimate brand such as Microsoft, may just be Malware. Considering this every time you press ok or continue you may well be putting your PC and moreover the rest in the company at risk.

So what is the main reason for these threats and why do people try and attack in this manner….fortunately as with most crime the factor is MONEY and Financial gain. This has become so prevalent that the term Financial Malware has been created.

Financial Malware mainly targets electronic fund transfers. The malware attempts to steal accounting and login information, making it possible to transfer money from the one account to another account by using EFT. Experts that specialise in financial malware have identified two forms of financial malware attacks these are general and targeted. A report by Semantic in 2012[1] suggested it that these Malware attacks cost on average £5000 or $10,000 per day.

In addition there is also ‘spyware’ attacks which again are for profit. This is where infected computers are increasingly being used to send email spam, and to host illegal data such as child pornography, or to engage in distributed denial-of-service attacks. These programs are designed to monitor users' web browsing, display unsolicited advertisements, or redirect mail. Spyware is generally installed by exploiting security holes or packaged together with user-installed software, such as peer-to-peer applications.

Spyware makes a profit by created pop up’s that a company pays for every time they are viewed, they also monitor which websites are being browsed and place ads that will be clicked on thus creating further revenue.

So how can we combat this Monster?

Well there are a number of free tools which will partial cover your company and some of these you may already have.


1. Malwarebytes.

The current market leader, Malwarebytes have an Anti-Malware program that you can download for free. This will provide, Advanced Malware Detection, industry proven clean-up technologies which eradicate existing Malware infections, rapid response Malware Database and heuristics updates, access to the Malwarebytes expert community and knowledgeable support team, it also features Chameleon Technology that gets Malwarebytes running on infected systems.

Malware also have a more robust offering which is around £15 per user this includes all of the above and Real-Time Active Malware Prevention Engine that blocks known threats, Heuristic Protection that prevents new Zero Day Malware infections, malicious Website Protection that blocks access to known and Zero Day malicious web content, automatic Priority Updates and Scheduled Scanning and finally blazing fast Flash Scans.

All of this together will form a well-rounded anti Malware defence


2. Combofix

This is a specialised Malware removal tool, and should only really be used by advanced users.

The program can detect a variety malware infections and in many will attempt to remove automatically or otherwise will provide you with a log file that an engineer can use to manually remove the Malware.

Combofix is an adequate removal program if used by an experienced or trained users. In the wrong hands however, it can cause some serious damage and leave your computer unbootable.

3. Avast Free

Avast features Anti-Virus and Anti –Malware. The anti-malware portion of the tool safe and reliable, the antivirus is one of the tops of the free suites.

There is also a paid versions of the same software suite which offers further benefits - anti-phishing, safe-shopping, SPAM protection etc.


4. AVG Free

AVG’s free versions it’s the most robust on the market but will help a little, it does a satisfactory job of removing Malware. The downside of AVG is it is not compatible with Combo fix, so unfortunately to run a tool like ComboFix, you actually have to completely remove AVG.

Overall Malware is an increasing threat for every company that uses the internet and emails on a daily basis (so 99.9%) on companies out there today. It is crucial that your defence system is reviewed and that some kind of Anti – Malware strategy is in place against these horrid little attacks.