General questions about malware

[Tsw88]

Hello

I try to be short. I have been hearing of different terms, Anti-virus, internet security, malware, adware, spyware, and even ransomware now. A lot of terms. The more carefully I read, the more confusing it is to me. It looks like there are a lot of things to learn but life is too short.

I was never serious about computer protection and internet security. What is the software now I should install now or practice I should do in order to maximize my protection and minimize the risks?

Is Malware exclusive to all unwelcome software like Virus, Adware, Spyware? Or they are all different topics that we have to use individual tools for each "ware"?

Could Avast Pro (paid version) be a total solution?

There are hundreds of different security tools that I can't buy them all and no one will buy them all

 

[RoboMan]

Hi mate, welcome to the forums! Remember to introduce yourself on the correct section.

Malware has lots of classifications, as there are lots of malware types. Let's not talk about "virus". There has always been a discussion wether virus is a type of malware or just another name for it. The correct term to use involves malware as the name for it all. Including worms (headache malware, auto-reproduction), ransomware (lockdown malware which encrypts your data), trojans, adware (advertising malware), etc.
I suggest you take a look at this site: A List of Malware Types and Their Definitions | FBI Ransom, Virus

To protect yourself from this you have different software: free antivirus (software which will ofer basic protection to delete and avoid malware), internet security suites (more complete antivirus which usually offer more modules such as firewall or parental control). Remember you can't always be 100% protected, so great part of your protection relies on you. Your habits, learning about the do's and don't. To complement this, you can use an antivirus with a firewall, as one or two different products, and maybe an anti-executable after you've learnt how they work. Please take a look at this thread: How to choose "the best antivirus"?

Have a nice day!

 

[Deleted member 178]

Read here:

Security Dictionary

 

[Tsw88]

Hi mate, welcome to the forums! Remember to introduce yourself on the correct section.

Malware has lots of classifications, as there are lots of malware types. Let's not talk about "virus". There has always been a discussion wether virus is a type of malware or just another name for it. The correct term to use involves malware as the name for it all. Including worms (headache malware, auto-reproduction), ransomware (lockdown malware which encrypts your data), trojans, adware (advertising malware), etc.
I suggest you take a look at this site: A List of Malware Types and Their Definitions | FBI Ransom, Virus

To protect yourself from this you have different software: free antivirus (software which will ofer basic protection to delete and avoid malware), internet security suites (more complete antivirus which usually offer more modules such as firewall or parental control). Remember you can't always be 100% protected, so great part of your protection relies on you. Your habits, learning about the do's and don't. To complement this, you can use an antivirus with a firewall, as one or two different products, and maybe an anti-executable after you've learnt how they work. Please take a look at this thread: How to choose "the best antivirus"?

Have a nice day!

Hi

Yes, but sorry

I really don't have much time to study the details. On top of that, English is not my language, it's really difficult to read carefully.

Is there any quick tips on what I should install and what to do and what not to do so as to be protective in general?

I am thinking about if I should purchase the full version of Avast.

 

[TheMalwareMaster]

Read here:

Security Dictionary

We are missing Anti-Executable

 

[TheMalwareMaster]

Hi

Yes, but sorry

I really don't have much time to study the details. On top of that, English is not my language, it's really difficult to read carefully.

Is there any quick tips on what I should install and what to do and what not to do so as to be protective in general?

I am thinking about if I should purchase the full version of Avast.

Hello and welcome to the forums. First of all, always make a backup of all your data. You can do it on an external Hard Disk, flash drives or using backup programs. Then, you may want to choose some software to protect you from viruses. I am really proud of VoodooShield, a free program for home, which combines a whitelist approach with a blacklist approach. VoodoooShield is compatible with antivirus software, but you can use it even alone (it really does his job). But, I recommend using one. You may take a look to Windows Defender, if using Windows 10, 8.1, 8 or Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows 7. Then, you could start to learn how to use VirusTotal and Hybrid Analysis to scan downloaded files and learn if they are malicious or not

 

[shmu26]

An antivirus suite will try to protect you from all bad things. How successful it will be depends largely on:
1 how careful you are as a computer user
2 whether your operating system and software are modern and updated
3 luck

The first two are in your control.

 

[Arequire]

Malware is a broad term that covers all malicious software. From there are different categories such as virus, trojan, ransomware, adware, etc.

Could Avast Pro (paid version) be a total solution?

I personally feel there are better paid-for solutions out there. Not to discredit Avast; they make a fantastic free product, but I find their paid solutions don't really ramp up the core security of the product to justify the price and as such I feel there is better options available such as Kaspersky or Emsisoft.

 

[Winter Soldier]

There are many forms of malware: viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, adware, keyloggers, backdoors, bots, exploits, rootkits, rogues, ransomware...
It is necessary to know the malware to better protect yourself, because they are different threats and they are different in the attack mode and spread, as they hide themselves from security programs, for how they behave and for the damages that they produce.

However, the categories of malware are dynamic and there are lots of variants of malware families . For example, a trojan could steal your personal information like a spyware, and use the typical techniques of rootikit to hide itself from the antivirus.

The classification of the malware, therefore, is not an exact science and varies depending on which aspect of the malware is considered a priority.

 

[brod56]

Trying to briefly answer all your questions...

1- To be protected from malware, you need at least an antivirus (Windows Defender) and a content blocker (uBlock Origin). You can then couple this with some other useful software, like antimalware (Zemana) or anti-exe (Voodoshield), but your brain is always your best friend.
2 - The term malware includes all kinds of malicious software, from ransomware to worms.
3 - Avast Pro is a solid solution, you dont need to buy anything else. Make sure to tweak it if it is your final choice.