Malicious Software Removal: Why is Malicious Software a Problem

Malicious software or malware is a software program that can cause our computer systems to malfunction. Of course, a person will not knowingly download a malicious program onto his system. It is generally downloaded into the system when we download an email attachment, click on a pop up window or while browsing some malicious websites. There are various threats that these software pose to our system and hence it becomes very much important to remove them.

What is a Malicious Software Program?
Malware is nothing but a software, written by someone to access the information in your computer. When a malicious program is downloaded into the system, the user remains unaware of the fact. The working of the software totally depends on the motive of the program designer. A single software can encompass computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, spyware, etc.

Why is Malicious Software a Problem?
Of all the threats that such software imposes on the computer system, trojan virus is the most dangerous one. It works as a remote control of your computer, for the software designer. It can pass on private data, like your account numbers and credit card numbers to the author of the malicious program. Hence it causes a lot of damage in hideous manner. With a trojan running in your system, the author of the malicious program can even control the functionality and working of your computer. He can in fact manipulate the functioning of the other software and also control the working of the hardware in your computer. If the computer in which the malicious program is running, is connected to a network, it can rupture the working of the operating systems in all the computers. Even if you disconnect your computer from an infected network or the internet, it will decrease the performance speed of your computer. Even a single worm installed by the software can decrease the performance speed of your computer. Various other functions like the 'Task Manager' and 'Folder Options' may stop working, limiting your control over your system. The malicious program in many cases behaves, as if it is under some sort of dope and needs to download unwanted data into your computer, without your permission.

Malicious Software Removal
There are various removal tools and antiviruses available in the market. However, before we start with the tools, let's take a look at the steps that we can take, to keep our computers free from these programs. The operating system and the software that you have installed in your system should be original licensed copies. This allows you to update the operating system and the software running in your system. It is very important to get all the recent patches developed for the operating system and the application software to be added into your system, for protection against malicious software. Avoid browsing suspicious websites. You can also use various software to stop pop ups from appearing on your computer screen. An accidental clicking on a popup may trigger the download of a malicious program into your computer system. Before downloading any attachment that you have received with an email, verify the source or the person who has sent the email. And most importantly, you need to install an antivirus software into your system and set proper firewalls.

There are various removal tools available, for various operating systems. The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool allows you to clean up any malicious software from your computer system, if it has Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 running in it. There are antispyware tools like the McAfee Anti Spyware that allows the removal of malicious programs among other facilities that it provides. MacScan is a software that has been designed for malicious software removal for computers with the Macintosh operating system. There are various other freeware and open source tools which are available for free download. 'Spyboot - Search & Destroy' and 'Hijack This' are two of these open source removal tools. It is very unlikely for Linux based systems to encounter any malicious program, however there are root kits available for malicious software removal for Linux operating systems. Some root kit tools like the 'Root Kit Hunter' and 'FoundStone Carbonate' are available for Windows operating systems too.

A malicious program can remain idle in your computer system for a considerable period of time, depending on its functionality. There are various tools provided by different operating systems, which can help you in scanning your system for a free scan of your system, to detect any malicious programs.