What is a Virus?

A virus (also known as malware) in it's most basic definition is a script or program written to perform a task with some form of malicious intent. Viruses can come in many diferent forms. They can be embedded in images or web sites (don't worry, not this one), they can be sent as an attachment in an e-mail message, they can even be embedded in a music file. This is why it's important to be careful whose emails you read, and also make sure you download your music legally. When you hear about worms, trojan horses, or logic bombs in the news, these are all forms of viruses.

What is Spyware?

Spyware is a script or program designed to gather information on the infected system. These programs can be designed to record your keystrokes, so when you type a username and password in a site such as your MySpace account or bank, the person receiving the information can now log into your bank account. On particular form of spyware that has been popular lately, is an advertisement for an anti-spyware / anti-virus program that keeps popping up stating that you have spyware and if you purchase their program it'll remove the spyware. This advertisement IS a piece of spyware.

What if My Computer is Infected?

If you think your computer is infected, it's very important that you have a repair shop that is well versed in virus / spyware removal. If you're already infected, in most cases you can't get rid of the infection by simply installing an anti-virus / anti-spyware program. If the virus is running in the background it can stealth itself or even damange the anti-virus program upon installation. We go as far as to remove the hard drive and scan it in one of our infection removal computers. We use multiple anti-virus and anti-spyware programs in conjunction to scripts that we've written to find and remove the infection. If you're worried about your computer being infected, we're here to help. Give us a call today!