·
What is malware?
Malware is malicious software designed to harm, exploit, or gain unauthorized access to devices and data.
What is the purpose of malware?
Cybercriminals use malware to get money through blackmail, fake payments, or stolen credit cards and online shopping accounts.
People use malware to steal sensitive personal or corporate information to use it as leverage for blackmail, further fraud, or to gain a competitive advantage.
Malware is used by people and organizations to gather intelligence on individuals, companies, or governments.
Some malware adds infected devices to botnets that are later used for larger attacks or rented to other cybercriminals.
The computing power of infected machines is used for cryptocurrency mining.
Some hackers choose to spread chaos, damage systems or networks, or use them to distribute political or extremist messages.
Malware can help gather enough information about someone to impersonate them online for many malicious purposes.
How malware spreads
How does malware infect your devices? Here are a few of the most common ways that could happen:
The most popular method of spreading viruses is through email. Both simple spam and sophisticated phishing attacks still trick people into clicking on links or downloading attachments that contain malware.
Careless browsing
If you click on any pop-up or advert that you come across while browsing, chances are, you’ll eventually end up on a malicious website. It might download malware in the background, and just like that, you’ll have a keylogger or a trojan on your device.
Coworkers
Some malware spreads through the internal network. For example, someone forgot their cybersecurity training, clicked on a malicious link, and the next day, everyone’s computers are encrypted, with no access to their accounts.
Bundled software
Malware is known for piggybacking. So even when you download a trustworthy piece of software, you might install adware or spyware together with it without even noticing — until it steals your banking data.
How do I know if I’ve been infected with malware?
Familiarize yourself with the most common signs of malware so you know when something is wrong and it’s time to act.
You notice that your entire device or browsers have slowed to a crawl, making it difficult to perform even the simplest tasks.
Your device frequently freezes or crashes, so you need to force-restart it, losing the data you’ve been working on at that moment.
Programs on your computer open or close without warning or apps that never showed ads before start drowning your screen in them.
Files, add-ons, or apps that you don’t recognize appear on your device, including browser extensions that are more difficult to notice.
Your security, browser, or app settings change without your consent. This can leave you vulnerable to breaches and vulnerability exploits.
If you notice emails or texts that were sent from your device or email account without your knowledge, it could signal that someone else is remotely using your device.
Your device overheats, or its battery drains super fast, affecting performance. Overheating can be caused by numerous apps working in the background, as well as data constantly being sent out to your attacker.
If your phone bill has increased without you knowing why, someone might be using up your data for mining cryptocurrency or sending your activity logs to the attacker.
How malware affects different devices
Malware can impact devices differently based on their operating systems and inherent vulnerabilities.
While macOS is often perceived as more secure than other platforms, it is not immune to malware. Adware and potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) are particularly prevalent on Macs, with more advanced malware, like ransomware and spyware, also growing in popularity. Users are most at risk when they download software from outside the App Store, use outdated apps with unpatched vulnerabilities, or postpone important OS updates.
How to remove malware
There’s no universal solution. Malware removal depends on many factors: the operating system, the specific malware that infected it, whether you need to save your files or not, and so on. You will likely need to buy an advanced and trustworthy antivirus software to scan your device and delete any malware that’s on it. And it still might not work — for example, more advanced ransomware is likely to be impossible to remove.
Read our blog post for more detailed tips on how to remove malware.
How to protect yourself from malware
Here’s how you prevent a malware attack:
One of the most comprehensive defenses against any malicious code is reputable security software. As always, premium tools are the way to go. The best software packages are backed by dedicated teams of developers who monitor the latest threats and respond to them with updates as quickly as possible.
Don’t click on suspicious pop-ups, and make sure you’re clicking on the right “X” to close them. To make things easier, switch on NordVPN’s Threat Protection Pro™ feature, and it will block ads and malicious websites for you.
Maintaining frequent backups of your files may not prevent you from getting malware, but it will make the aftermath much easier to deal with. Device resets are a nearly guaranteed way to wipe out most malware, but they’re very hard to do if it means losing important files. With frequent, secure backups, that won’t be a problem.
Before downloading an app, read some reviews online – and be sure to find some negative ones. What do they say? Are users complaining about features or performance, or are there more serious issues at play? Has anyone accused the app of being malware?
Research the most serious vulnerabilities facing your device or operating system. If you know them, you can avoid them.
When a trusted app or your OS asks you to confirm an update, you should do it. In addition to providing feature and performance improvements, updates usually patch up newly discovered security vulnerabilities.
Learn how to craft a strong password that you’ll remember. You can also use a password manager like NordPass so that you don’t need to rely on weak passwords – it’ll generate, remember, and secure them for you.
When you discover malware on your device and eliminate it, one of the first things you’ll want to do is change your passwords.
Whether it’s a smartphone or a PC, your device has plenty of built-in settings that can go a long way to make it more secure. Make sure you go over them and set up security features where possible.
Types of malware and malicious attacks
There are countless varieties out there, so we'll stick to some of the most widespread malware examples. Here are the top most common types of malware:
Adware is a relatively innocuous type of malicious software that focuses on making money rather than harming your computer. This aggressive advertising-supported software displays banner advertisements on websites and application windows.
Symptoms may vary, but the main one will be pop-up ads. They may show up on your desktop or in programs, websites, or apps that didn’t have them before.
How does NordVPN help?
How NordVPN can help depends on the malware you’re up against.
NordVPN offers Threat Protection Pro™ — a feature that blocks access to malicious sites before they can damage your device. Threat Protection Pro™ availability varies by plan.
Threat Protection Pro™ scans the files you download and, if malware is detected, instantly deletes it.
Threat Protection Pro™ blocks potentially malicious ads before you even get the chance to see them.
The encryption a VPN provides will close off numerous avenues of infiltration for potential hackers and their malware.