The Internet has become something of a necessary evil these days. it has its pros and also the very annoying cons along with it. A recent report on internet security suggests that every PC connected to the internet has or is at the recieving end of malicious software that the user never downloaded.

Malicious software can be a virus, a worm, spyware, malwares of different kinds, a Trojan Horse (well that can be any of the latter). So, a anti-'malicious software' software should keep you clean shouldn't it? wrong. most of the times the 'anti' software is outdated and you computer is seiged by the latest virus or spyware that can, today, hide itself from any security software forever.

so what do you do? and how do you recognize your system is UNDER ATTACK!?

well, ill try to tackle the latter part first.

here are a few 'symptoms' that your system has been attacked by SPYWARE:

1. one of the tried and tested methods of a spyware is to change your default internet browser homepage, that is, the page that gets loaded when you open you net browser.

2. your search results always leads to one single same page.

3.there are new programs in your add/remove files list which you never installed

4.Pop-up windows keep appearing endlessly.

5.Firewall and antivirus software are turned-off without you knowing.

6.your network connections activity lights keep blinking even when you are not using the net.

7.strange icons in the taskbar, tray or your desktop.

8.Your PC is much slower than before even when offline.

9.never-heard-of favourites in your favourites tab.

10.You get frequent alerts from your firewall about an unknown program or process trying to acess the net.

11.When you try to open spyware eradicating programs like Spybot S&D, Adaware or windows programs like Task manager, Regedit and Msconfig, they just pop up on your screen momentarily and disappear. (this one is caused due to major malware).

12.Strange and unexpected toolbars turnup in your browser.

VIRUS ATTACK SYMPTOMS:

what is a virus? lets deal with that before we get on to the symptoms.

a VIRUS is a code ,a software like anyother. What makes it so disliked is because its a piece of software that is out of you , the user's control. A virus downloads onto your system without your knowledge and 'infects' the files stored on your system, and more often than not such files become obsolete, thereby rendering your data unusable. Typically a virus will riplicate itself and infect as many files as it possibly can, it can get on to your pen drives, DVD's, portable hard disks and all other kinds of storage devices. and when you plug that device onto some other system, the virus automatically uploads itself into that system, creating a sort of vicious cycle, more or less like a biological virus.

Computer viruses are broadly classified into four types:

BOOT-SECTOR VIRUS: this type is loaded even before your operating system is loaded, that is during boot-up and hence is harder to locate.

FILE OR PROGRAM VIRUS: this one attaches itself to executable files that you can download. It is activated the moment you run the .exe or similar file. this fellow can replicate infinitely.

MACROS VIRUS: Macro viruses are currently the most commonly found viruses. They infect files run by applications that use macro languages, like Microsoft Word or Excel. The virus looks like a macro in the file, and when the file is opened, the virus can execute commands understood by the application's macro language.

MULTIPARTITE VIRUS: these guys are hybrids. they have characteristics of both boot sector and file viruses. meaning they can execute in the boot process and spread to other applications or vice-versa.

WORMS AND TROJANS: Technically speaking these are not Viruses. a Worm is a piece of malicious software that can replicae itself but need not harm other applicaitons. famous worms include Melissa and LoveLetter, they are acredited with creating mass havocs throughout the net community.

Just like in the Greek myth, Trojan horses contain a concealed surprise. A Trojan horse program resides hidden in another seemingly harmless piece of software until some condition triggers its awakening.

some symptoms of such attacks:

1.Unusual displays or messages on your desktop

2.Unusual sounds or music played at random times.

3.your memory resources (RAM memory) is much less than it should be.

4.A disk or volume drive name has been changed

5.programmes or files are missing.

6.Unknown files or programmes have been created.

7.Files and programmes are corrupted and don't work properly.

8.Your CD ROM keeps opening and closing at random times. (this can happen even if there is a spyware attack)

9.your computer screen blanks out soon after booting up. (now you need to see a technician).

10.Internet Explorer or any other browser for that matter keeps poping up with you having cliked on it.

11.Your mouse starts leaving trails.

12.Your desktop properties change by themselves.

13.the file sizes of previously installed files are altered. (this is a strong indication, and requires strict vigil of your files, which is always recommended).

well, any other sort of mishap could mean an attack, at that point its always a good measure to get your hands on an anti-virus software and run a full scan.

But, it has to be taken note of that an antivirus software is only as good as its database is. that is to say that you have to regularly update you software's database to keep your system armed against the newer viruses.

Brain, 1986

It all started here: Brain was the first "real" virus ever discovered, back in 1986. Brain didn't really hurt your PC, but it launched the malware industry with a bang and gave bad ideas to over 100,000 virus creators for the next 2 decades.

Michelangelo, 1991

The worst MS-DOS virus ever, Michelangelo attacked the boot sector of your hard drive and any floppy drive inserted into the computer, which caused the virus to spread rapidly. After spreading quietly for months, the virus "activated" on March 6, and promptly started destroying data on tens of thousands of computers.

Melissa, 1999

Technically a worm, Melissa (named after a stripper) collapsed entire email systems by causing computers to send mountains of messages to each other. The author of the virus was eventually caught and sentenced to 20 months in prison.

ILOVEYOU, 2000

This was notable for being one of the first viruses to trick users into opening a file, which in this case claimed to be a love letter sent to the recipient. In reality, the file was a VBS script that sent mountains of junk mail and deleted thousands of files. The results were terribly devastating- one estimate holds that 10 percent of all computers were affected, to a cost of $5.5 billion. It remains perhaps the worst worm of all time.

Code Red, 2001

An early "blended threat" attack, Code Red targeted Web servers instead of user machines, defacing websites and later launching denial-of-service attacks on a host of IP addresses, including those of the White House.

Nimda, 2001

Built on Code Red's attack system of finding multiple avenues into machines (email, websites, network connections, and others), Nimda infected both Web servers and user machines. It found paths into computers so effectively that, 22 minutes after it was released, it became the Internet's most widespread virus at the time.

Klez, 2001

An email virus, Klez pioneered spoofing the "From" field in email messages it sent, making it impossible to tell if Bill Gates did or did not really send you that information about getting free money.

Slammer, 2003

Another fast spreader, this worm infected about 75,000 systems in just 10 minutes, slowing the Internet to a crawl (much like Code Red) and shutting down thousands of websites.

MyDoom, 2004

Notable as the fastest-spreading email virus of all time, MyDoom infected computers so they would, in turn, send even more junk mail. In a strange twist, MyDoom was also used to attack the website of SCO Group, a very unpopular company that was suing other companies over its code being used in Linux distributions.

Storm, 2007

The worst recent virus, Storm spread via email spam with a fake attachment and ultimately infected up to 10 million computers, causing them to join its zombie botnet.

THE BEST TOOLS YOU CAN HAVE:

SPYWARE SECTION:

1 Webroot software Spy Sweeper 5.5.7.122 (*est $25)

2. Panda Internet Security 2008 (*est$40)

3. Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2007 (free)

4. Javacool Software SpywareBlaster (free)

5. Safer Networking Spybot Search & Destroy 1.5 (free)

(P.S : just google all of these for the links)

ANTIVIRUS SECTION:

1. BitDefender 9

2. Kaspersky Lab Kaspersky AntiVirus personal

3. F-Secure AntiVirus

4. Symantec Norton AntiVirus

5. Panda Software Panda Titanium

6. ESET NOD32 AntiVirus

(again just google the names for download links)