Malware Remediation Tools and Techniques

How to remove malware from your Windows PC

Notes:

Signs of Malware: Slower-than-usual performance,a sudden spate of pop-ups, and other anomalous issues

Instructions on how to remove malware:

• Enter safe mode: Before you do anything, you need to disconnect your PC from the internet, and don’t use it until you’re ready to clean your PC. This can help prevent the malware from spreading and/or leaking your private data.

• Delete temporary files: Use the Disk Cleanup utility. This is included with Windows 10. You'll need to type Disk Cleanup in the search bar or after pressing the Start button and select the tool that appears named Disk Cleanup.

• Download malware scanners: running a scanner is enough to remove most standard infections. If you already had an antivirus program active on your computer, you should use a different scanner for this malware check, since your current antivirus software may not have detected the malware.

• Run a scan

• Fix your web browser: Before launching your web browser, check your homepage and connection settings. Simply go to the settings window of your browser to check your homepage setting.

• Recover your files if Windows is corrupt: If you can’t seem to remove the malware or if Windows isn’t working properly, you may have to reinstall Windows. But before wiping your hard drive, copy all of your files to an external USB or flash drive.

• Keep your PC Clean: Always make sure that you have a real-time antivirus program running on your PC, and make sure this program is always up-to-date. When you think that you’ve rid your PC of malware infections, double-check your online accounts, including those for your bank, email, and social networking sites. Look for suspicious activity and change your passwords.

• Note: no antivirus program can detect 100 percent of the millions of malware types and variants. :/

Two Types of Antivirus Programs:

1. Real-time antivirus programs, which run in the background and constantly watch for malware.

2. On-demand scanner, which searches for malware infections when you open the program manually and run a scan.

SUMMARY: This topic is important to what we're learning in class because I feel like at some point everyone, unfortunately, experiences some malware issues. That was what prompted me to finally check this program because of Malware and I had my partner try to fix the issue for me. But having said this, it's important for us to know how to take the proper steps as technical professionals because it's something that can happen to someone personally but also in a enterprise environment that can risk their security.