Malicious Software

There are many types of malicious software, outside of your typical viruses, attack systems every day. The following sections outline other types of malicious software but understand that they are all considered types of viruses.

Trojan horses
Trojan horses virus are special designed and bundled in an exe file, when some one click on this exe file then it executes the virus program and takes control of the system. For example, NetBus is a very popular Trojan virus that ships as a file called patch.exe. A hacker e-mails the file called patch.exe and explains in the e-mail that this is a security patch you need to apply to make sure your system is secure. Unfortunately, patch.exe is the security hole! When you run patch.exe, it opens your system up to the hacker by opening a port so that the hacker can connect to the port at any time and control your system. Trojan viruses are normally loaded on your system by the hacker tricking you into running the program on the system. You can remove the Trojan with virus-protection software.

Worms
A worm is a self-replicating virus. By self-replicating, I mean that the worm doesn't need to be activated by the user opening the file. A worm is a virus that runs on a system and also tries to infect other systems on the network. The Nimda virus is an example of a worm virus. Worms are loaded on your system by connecting to your system from across the Internet. The worm is usually designed to infect the system by connecting through a specific piece of software.

Spyware and adware
Spyware is software that loads on your system and then monitors your Internet activity, while adware is software that creates pop-ups from time to time advertising a particular product or service. Both of these types of viruses infect your system when you surf the wrong Internet site. Spyware and adware have become a huge negative result of the Internet, so a number of products are available to eliminate spyware and adware. The most popular products used to eliminate spyware and adware are

• Spybot Search & Destroy
• Ad-Aware
• Microsoft’s Windows Defender

Security Check List

Security Checklist for Your Computer

Use this checklist to make sure you are taking advantage of all the ways that Windows can help keep your computer as secure and safe as possible.

Action Center

Use Action Center to make sure your firewall is on, your antivirus software is up to date, and your computer is set up to install updates automatically.

Windows Defender

Use Windows Defender to prevent malicious software, like spyware or viruses, from infecting your computer.

User Account Control

User Account Control prompts you for your permission before installing software or opening certain kinds of programs that could potentially harm your computer or make it vulnerable to security threats.

Backup and Restore

It's important to back up your files and settings regularly so that if you get a virus or have any kind of hardware failure, you can recover your files.

Windows Update

Set Windows Update to download and install the latest updates for your computer automatically.


Windows Firewall

Use Windows Firewall to help prevent hackers and unwanted software from gaining access to your computer through the Internet.

Security zones (Adding or Removing websites)

Internet Explorer assigns all websites to one of four security zones; Internet, Local intranet, Trusted sites or Restricted sites. The zone to which a website is assigned specifies the security settings that are used for that site. You can choose which websites to assign to the Intranet, Trusted, or Restricted zones. By adding a website to a specific zone, you can control the level of security used on that site. For example, if you have a list of websites that you visit and you completely trust those sites, add those sites to the trusted zone.

To add a website to a security zone

• Click to open Internet Explorer. 
• Navigate to the website that you want to add to a specific security zone.
• Click the Tools button, and then click Internet Options.
• Click the Security tab, and then click a security zone (Local intranet, Trusted sites, or Restricted sites).
• Click Sites.
• If you clicked Local intranet in step 4, click Advanced.
• The website should be shown in the Add this website to the zone field. Click Add.

Note: If the site is not a secure site (HTTPS), clear the Require server verification (https:) for all sites in this zone check box.

• Click Close, and then click OK (or click OK twice if you clicked Local intranet in step 4).

To remove a website from a security zone

• Click to open Internet Explorer. 
• Click the Tools button, and then click Internet Options.
• Click the Security tab, and then click a security zone (Local intranet, Trusted sites, or Restricted sites).
• Click Sites.
• If you clicked Local intranet in step 3, click Advanced.
• In Websites, click the website that you want to remove.
• Click Remove.
• Click Close, and then click OK (or click OK twice if you clicked Local intranet in step 3).