The malware is a malicious computer program that aims to disrupt the normal operation of a computer device or even to steal personal information it contains. it’s a serious IT problem that affects many businesses and individuals. Many surf the Internet and maintain bad cybersecurity practices that can result in their computers being attacked or infected by malicious software.
We are not always aware that this has happened, but our computer may slow down or run with errors due to the existence of computer malware.
In this article we want you to understand what malware is and how it can affect your company’s computers.
On many occasions, lack of knowledge and the absence of good computer maintenance practices lead us to make mistakes that endanger our privacy and data integrity.
What does malware do?
Malware is any harmful or malicious program that can affect our computer. It is usually a “.exe” file, but it can be hidden in other seemingly harmless file types.
In many occasions, we download this type of programs on our computer without being aware of it. For example, when using P2P networks or by opening e-mails from strangers that do not really correspond to what they are.
Malware can also come innocently through social networks. For example, through someone sending us a link via Twitter talking about something apparently important, perhaps about a fake news story that might hit our interest. Or things can even go further, with e-mail messages with sexual content, but which hide links from downloading malware.
Let us always bear in mind that the cybercriminal who wants to take over your company’s data or infect your computer is always going to use something that you can bite on. The vast majority of malware messages are ignored, but it only takes 1% of people to download the malware file and the cybercriminals have already achieved their goal.
How to protect yourself and your business from malware?
Your business runs many cyber threats when it comes to connecting to the Internet. If you don’t have a good practice guide and preventive cybersecurity measures in place to help you avoid the downloading malware files If you download malware files, your business data can be infected when you least expect it.
In order to avoid malware on your computer, there are a number of cybersecurity solutions you can rely on:
1. Use an antivirus
Many computers do not have sufficient protection out of the box to protect against certain types of malware. That is why it is convenient to have an updated antivirus that allows us to protect ourselves against the action of the latest computer viruses including ransomware and trojans. Keep in mind that new types of malware are constantly emerging and our operating system can be vulnerable to many of them.
2. Follow good browsing practices
Your employees and yourself should follow the tips and advice of cybersecurity experts when surfing the Internet With a guide to good practices in computer maintenance you will be able to keep your computers and networks safe from cyber attacks.
Often it is the user himself who is the most vulnerable element in the data security chain. Privacy protection is important. Therefore, if you take care of the way your computers are used, you will also be protecting yourself against malware.
3. Use cybersecurity services and turn to computer maintenance experts
If your computer is infected with malicious software and you are not aware of it, the first thing you have to do is to use some online cybersecurity services. You start with enabling operating system firewall then running a malware scan on your computer with an antivirus software. Sometimes malware however can even affect the antivirus and uninstall it or not let it work properly, requiring you to connect from another computer remotely to try to migrate and save your files and programs and restore your computer performance and security.
It is therefore important to go to computer maintenance experts, people who can help us in case a cyber attack has occurred or even prevent it. there are many cybersecurity solutions available.
4. Create cloud backups
We never know what will happen to our computer if we download malware. That is why it is advisable that all your data is always safe, saved and stored in an external location, preferably in the cloud.
With an online and automated backup service you won’t have to worry about this. The system makes copies of your files and saves them in the cloud for greater protection against possible data loss as a result of a computer malware or server failure.
5. Keep your operating system and software always up to date
Operating system, browser, software… make sure your files and programs are updated to the latest version. Many older programs have more cybersecurity vulnerabilities, as they have subsequently been improved to prevent malware action.
If you are working with an old operating system, for which updates are no longer available, you have all the chances to end up accumulating malware on your computer. If you do not want to be infected, upgrade to the latest OS.