Ransomware, Adware Etc., How to Protect Yourself? Antivirus Software

Ransomware, Adware Etc., How to Protect Yourself? Antivirus Software


Malware regularly makes headlines: Attacks on businesses, institutes, governments and even hospitals are rife in the digital age, and home computers are not spared either. These attacks exist in different forms: for each type of damage, a specific name is used such as ransomware(or ransomware), spyware ( or spyware), adware ( adware ) or scareware (alarm software). The English term "ware" is simply short for software. All describe forms of malware (“malicious software”). But what exactly do these terms mean? How serious is the threat? As an Internet user, how do you protect yourself from malware and remove it from your computer in the event of an infection?

Ransomware: How to Protect Yourself From the Ransom Trojan?

The word ransomware is made up of the English term "ransom" (ransom) and software. We also speak of Trojan horse, ransomware or extortion. All of them describe the same function: the malware completely encrypts or encrypts data on a computer or even an entire network and instead of the usual user interface a payment order is displayed so that the hacked data can be released. ; it is usually a ransom demand or similar blackmail. The spread of ransomware is no different from the most well-known computer viruses: it usually reaches the target computers through fake email attachments (e.g. fake invoice, delivery note or a ZIP file etc.) or by security holes in the web browser or in the hosting services.

How Does Ransomware Work?

The most common method is still sending massive emails with infected attachments through network bots. Cybercriminals can apply spambots to automatically send ready emails. Behind the bogus email, attachments are loaders that deliver real-time encryption. Typically, emails pressure, mimic existing classic senders (like well-known companies) and attempt to contact users.

Even if the method is relatively well known, the threat has however worsened since the winter of 2015-2016. The French government responded by publishing a major risks web page with advice to alert and protect internet users. One example is the infamous Locky ransomware. France has indeed recorded more than 2,400 attacks just for this software and more than 114 countries have been targeted.

Preventive Measures and Methods to Remove Ransomware.

There are many preventive measures against ransomware: first and foremost basic protections against fraudulent emailsIt is indeed necessary to always be sceptical of an unexpected email, not to click on questionable links, to always question the security of attachments and to only open them if the authenticity of the sender can. be perfectly verified. It is further recommended to:

  • Update the operating system and effective antivirus software as this is the only way to detect new threats.
  • Regularly back up the most important files to an external storage medium. In the event of loss, data can thus be restored without major damage.
  • Always enable the operating system firewall, it can also provide additional protection not to constantly work with administrator privileges.
  • Stop using software with known vulnerabilities. We can consider here the Adobe Flash Player which is short and less used to change many web pages to HTML5.

However, what can you do if the encryption is caused by ransomwareThe ability to remove ransomware then depends heavily on the encryption method used. Some of them can be detected and removed by common antivirus software. But others are more persistent. In all cases, the computer must be disconnected from the network and shut down if there is an infection. Recovery CDs can be used against some threats. These emergency disks are available from popular antivirus software vendors such as Kaspersky, AVG or BitDefender, Protegent360.

Rebooting in Safe Mode can also sometimes help. Thus, only the most important functions are put into operation. In this secure environment, the system can be reset later under "control panel" in the "system and security" menu, but only if a restore point has been defined beforehand. However, the system ordinarily creates this knowledge automatically during updates or when installing a program. As a last resort, it is possible to use the command line to run specific decryption tools designed against identified Trojans.


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