To protect your computer from spyware make sure you have

Table of Contents Show

How Malware Gets on Your Device
How To Remove Malware
Do-It-Yourself
Getting help
How To Avoid Malware
Report Malware

Malware is one of the biggest threats to the security of your computer, tablet, phone, and other devices. Malware includes viruses, spyware, ransomware, and other unwanted software that gets secretly installed onto your device. Once malware is on your device, criminals can use it to steal your sensitive information, send you unwanted or inappropriate ads, demand payment to unscramble data encrypted by ransomware, and make your device vulnerable to even more malware. Here’s what to know to recognize, remove, and avoid malware.

Look for unusual behavior from your phone, tablet, or computer. Your device might have been infected with malware if it

suddenly slows down, crashes, or displays repeated error messages
won’t shut down or restart
won’t let you remove software
serves up lots of pop-ups, inappropriate ads, or ads that interfere with page content
shows ads in places you typically wouldn’t see them, like government websites
shows new and unexpected toolbars or icons in your browser or on your desktop
uses a new default search engine, or displays new tabs or websites you didn’t open
keeps changing your computer’s internet home page
sends emails you didn’t write
runs out of battery life more quickly than it should

How Malware Gets on Your Device

Criminals work to get malware on your devices so they can steal personal information, like your usernames and passwords, bank account numbers, or Social Security number. They use this information to commit identity theft. If you think someone may have stolen your information or identity, visit IdentityTheft.gov.

Malware can get onto your device when you open or download attachments or files, or visit a scammy website. Your device might get infected with malware through:

How To Remove Malware

Do-It-Yourself

Stop shopping, banking, and doing other things online that involve usernames, passwords, or other sensitive information — until you get your device cleared of any malware.
Check to see if you have security software on your device — if not, download it. Find recommendations from independent review sites by doing a search online. Also ask friends and family for recommendations. Some software that claims to be security software to protect you from malware is malware, so it’s important to do your research.
Make sure your software is up to date. Check that all software — the operating system, security software, apps, and more — is up to date. Consider turning on automatic updates so your software always stays up to date.
Scan your device for malware. Run a malware or security Delete anything it identifies as a problem. You may have to restart your device for the changes to take effect. Run your scan again to make sure everything is clear. If the scan shows there are no more issues, you’ve likely removed the malware.

If you’re not able to fix your device with steps 1-4, steps 5 and 6 may resolve the issue. When using either of these options, you risk losing data. If you’ve backed up your data regularly, you’ll minimize what you lose.

Recover your operating system. To find out how to recover your operating system (like Windows or Mac OS), visit your device manufacturer’s website. Recovering your system typically means you’ll get back a lot of the data stored on the device, so it’s a good alternative to reinstalling your operating system (step 6). That is, if it clears the malware problem. After recovering your operating system, you’ll want to go back to steps 2, 3 and 4 to ensure that you’ve removed the malware.
Reinstall your operating system. To find out how to reinstall your operating system (like Windows or Mac OS), visit your device manufacturer’s website. Reinstalling your system is the safest way to clean an infected device, but you’ll lose all of the data stored on the device that you haven’t backed up.

Getting help

Contact the manufacturer of your device. If it’s covered by a warranty, you may be able to get free tech support — otherwise you may need to pay to get help. Before seeking help, write down the model and serial number of your device, and the name of any software you’ve installed.

When reaching out for help, remember to look out for tech support scammers. Here are two things to know to avoid a tech support scammer:

Legitimate tech companies won’t contact you by phone, email or text message to tell you there’s a problem with your computer.
Security pop-up warnings from real tech companies will never ask you to call a phone number.

If you spot either of those things, you know it’s a scam.

How To Avoid Malware

Scammers try to trick people into clicking on links that will download viruses, spyware, and other unwanted software — often by bundling it with free downloads. Here are ways to avoid malware: · Install and update security software, and use a firewall. Set your security software, internet browser, and operating system to update automatically. · Don’t weaken your browser’s security settings. You can minimize “drive-by” or bundled downloads if you keep your browser’s default security settings.

Read each screen when you install new software. If you don’t recognize a program, or are prompted to install bundled software, decline the additional program or exit the installation process.
Get well-known software directly from the source. Sites offering lots of different browsers, PDF readers, and other popular software for free are more likely to include malware.
Pay attention to your browser’s security warnings. Many browsers come with built-in security scanners that warn you before you visit an infected webpage or download a malicious file.
Instead of clicking on a link in an email or text message, type the URL of a trusted site directly into your browser. Criminals send phishing emails that trick you into clicking on a link or opening an attachment that could download malware.
Don’t click on pop-ups or ads about your computer’s performance. Scammers insert unwanted software into pop-up messages or ads that warn that your computer’s security or performance is Avoid clicking on these ads if you don’t know the source.
Scan USB drives and other external devices before using them. These devices can be infected with malware, especially if you use them in high traffic places, like photo printing stations or public computers.

Report Malware

If you think your computer has malware, report it to

the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov
FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

Identity Theft and Online Security

Online Privacy and Security

When you’re online, you expose your vulnerability to malicious virus that have been growing in virulence and ferocity over the last few years. These program codes have gone beyond mere annoyances with the worst kinds disabling your PC, but they have become portals for remotely perpetuating more sinister activity that can secretly hack into sites, mount denial of services or steal confidential and personal data for fraudulent financial gain at your expense.

Short for malicious software, malware is as old as software itself, and programmers have been authoring it for as long as they have been authoring legitimate software. There are many reasons why a programmer might create malware. These reasons vary from simple pranks and experiments to serious organized Internet crime. Malware exists in many forms, most of which you’ve probably already heard of. The most common types of malware are viruses, trojans, worms, spyware and zombies.

Computers that are the most susceptible to being hacked are those who do not meet minimum security standards. Malware can be unintentionally downloaded from other programs, files, or email attachments.

How do you avoid this?

The only way to completely secure your computer is to disconnect it from the Internet, but this obviously isn’t helpful, so you must take as many reasonable precautions that you can. To ensure that you have the minimum security standards, you should have:

Turn on your firewall

A firewall can help protect your computer by preventing hackers or malicious software from gaining access to it. A firewall is software or hardware that checks information coming from the Internet or a network and then either turns it away or allows it to pass through to your computer, depending on your firewall settings. In this way, a firewall can help prevent hackers and malicious software from gaining access to your computer.

Use a reliable antivirus program / Automatic updates turned on

Viruses, worms, and Trojan horses are programs created by hackers that use the Internet to infect vulnerable computers. Viruses and worms can replicate themselves from computer to computer, while Trojan horses enter a computer by hiding inside an apparently legitimate program, such as a screen saver. Destructive viruses, worms, and Trojan horses can erase information from your hard disk or completely disable your computer. Others don’t cause direct damage, but worsen your computer’s performance and stability.

Antivirus programs scan e‑mail and other files on your computer for viruses, worms, and Trojan horses. If one is found, the antivirus program either quarantines (isolates) it or deletes it entirely before it damages your computer and files.

Because new viruses are identified every day, it’s important to use an antivirus program with an automatic update capability. When the program is updated, it adds new viruses to its list of viruses to check for, helping to protect your computer from new attacks. If the list of viruses is out of date, your computer is vulnerable to new threats. Updates usually require an annual subscription fee. Keep the subscription current to receive regular updates.

Use spyware and other malware protection

When it comes to malware specifically, there are a number of solutions in use today that attempt to address the threat. While the predominant approach is to protect the web server, there is an emerging, consumer-focused trend toward adding a layer of protection at the website level. Specifically, website anti-malware scanning has emerged as an effective supplement to traditional web server security. Anti-malware scanning is typically a cloud-based service that conducts regular scans of customer-facing web pages for hidden malware. The service alerts website owners if malware is found on their web pages. These top-level scans are simple, low-impact, and incredibly easy to implement—especially for small businesses. Website anti-malware scanning opens a new category of web security in trust services, adding a visible indicator of trust.

What’s the worst thing I can do if I do have malware? Ignoring it. Ignoring the problem will not make it go away. In fact, it will help spread the virus to other places on the Internet (i.e. your friends and family). Avoid being exposed by following these tips:

Tips for safely using e‑mail and the web

Use caution when opening e‑mail attachments. E‑mail attachments (files

attached to e‑mail messages) are a primary source of virus infection. Never open an attachment from someone you don’t know. If you know the sender but weren’t expecting an attachment, verify that the sender actually sent the attachment before you open it.

Guard your personal information carefully. If a website asks for a credit card number, bank information, or other personal information, make sure you trust the website and verify that its transaction system is secure.

Be careful when clicking hyperlinks in e‑mail messages. Hyperlinks (links that open websites when you click them) are often used as part of phishing and spyware scams, but they can also transmit viruses. Only click links in e‑mail messages that you trust.

Only install add-ons from websites that you trust. Web browser add-ons allow webpages to display things like toolbars, stock tickers, video, and animation. However, add-ons can also install spyware or other malicious software. If a website asks you to install an add-on, make sure that you trust it before doing so.