Scan your computer for malware command. Types of malware

The Anna Kournikova virus got its name for a reason - recipients thought they were downloading photos of a sexy tennis player. The financial damage from the virus was not the most significant, but the virus became very popular in popular culture, in particular it was mentioned in one of the episodes of the 2002 series Friends.

2. Sasser (2004)

In April 2004, Microsoft released a patch for the LSASS (Local Security Authentication Server) system service. A little later, a German teenager released the Sasser worm, which exploited this vulnerability on unpatched machines. Numerous variations of Sasser have appeared in the networks of airlines, transportation companies and healthcare providers, causing $18 billion in damage.

3. Melissa (1999)

Named after a Florida stripper, the Melissa virus was designed to spread by sending malicious code to the top 50 contacts in a victim's Microsoft Outlook address book. The attack was so successful that the virus infected 20 percent of computers worldwide and caused $80 million in damage.

The creator of the virus, David L. Smith, was arrested by the FBI, spent 20 months in prison and paid a $5,000 fine.

While most of the malware on our list caused trouble, Zeus (aka Zbot) was originally a tool used by an organized crime group.

The Trojan used phishing and keylogging techniques to steal bank accounts from victims. The malware successfully stole $70 million from victims' accounts.

5. Storm Trojan (2007)

Storm Trojan has become one of the fastest-spreading threats, as within three days of its release in January 2007, it reached an 8 percent infection rate on computers worldwide.

The Trojan created a massive botnet of 1 to 10 million computers, and due to its architecture of changing code every 10 minutes, Storm Trojan turned out to be a very persistent malware.

The ILOVEYOU (Chain Letter) worm disguised itself as a text file from a fan.

In fact, the love letter was a serious threat: in May 2000, the threat spread to 10 percent of networked computers, forcing the CIA to shut down its servers to prevent further spread. Damage is estimated at $15 billion.

7. Sircam (2001)

Like many early malicious scripts, Sircam used social engineering techniques to trick users into opening an email attachment.

The worm used random Microsoft Office files on the victim's computer, infected them and sent malicious code to address book contacts. Sircam caused $3 billion in damage, according to a University of Florida study.

8. Nimda (2001)

Released after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Nimda worm was widely believed to have links to al-Qaeda, but this was never proven, and even Attorney General John Ashcroft denied any connection to the terrorist organization.

The threat spread through multiple vectors and brought down banking networks, federal court networks, and other computer networks. Cleanup costs for Nimda exceeded $500 million in the first few days.

At just 376 bytes, the SQL Slammer worm contained a large amount of destruction in a compact package. The worm shut down the Internet, emergency call centers, 12,000 Bank of America ATMs and knocked out much of South Korea from the Internet. The worm was also able to disable access to the World Wide Web at a nuclear power plant in Ohio.

10. Michaelangelo (1992)

The Michaelangelo virus spread to a relatively small number of computers and caused little actual damage. However, the concept of a virus to “blow up a computer” on March 6, 1992 caused mass hysteria among users, which was repeated every year on this date.

11. Code Red (2001)

The Code Red worm, named after a variety of Mountain Dew, infected a third of Microsoft's IIS web servers upon release.

He was able to disrupt the whitehouse.gov website by replacing the main page with the message “Hacked by Chinese!” The damage caused by Code Red around the world is estimated at billions of dollars.

12. Cryptolocker (2014)

Computers infected with Cryptolocker encrypted important files and demanded a ransom. Users who paid the hackers more than $300 million in Bitcoin received access to the encryption key, while others lost access to the files forever.

The Sobig.F Trojan infected more than 2 million computers in 2003, crippling Air Canada and causing slowdowns in computer networks around the world. The malware resulted in $37.1 billion in cleanup costs, one of the most expensive remediation campaigns of all time.

14. Skulls.A (2004)

Skulls.A (2004) is a mobile Trojan that infected Nokia 7610 and other SymbOS devices. The malware was designed to change all icons on infected smartphones to the Jolly Roger icon and disable all smartphone functions except making and receiving calls.

According to F-Secure, Skulls.A caused minor damage, but the Trojan was insidious.

15. Stuxnet (2009)

Stuxnet is one of the most famous viruses created for cyber warfare. Created as part of a joint effort between Israel and the United States, Stuxnet targeted uranium enrichment systems in Iran.

The infected computers controlled the centrifuges until they were physically destroyed, and informed the operator that all operations were proceeding as normal.

In April 2004, MyDoom was named “the worst infection of all time” by TechRepublic, for good reason. The worm increased page load times by 50 percent, blocked infected computers from accessing antivirus software sites and launched attacks on computer giant Microsoft, causing service failures.

The MyDoom cleanup campaign cost $40 billion.

17. Netsky (2004)

The Netsky worm, created by the same teenager who developed Sasser, traveled around the world via email attachments. The P version of Netsky was the most widespread worm in the world two years after its launch in February 2004.

18. Conficker (2008)

The Conficker worm (also known as Downup, Downadup, Kido) was first discovered in 2008 and was designed to disable antivirus programs on infected computers and block automatic updates that could remove the threat.

Conficker quickly spread across numerous networks, including defense networks in the UK, France and Germany, causing $9 billion in damage.

Found a typo? Press Ctrl + Enter

Quite often, novice and intermediate users make one mistake: they call any malicious software a virus or Trojan, while it is correct to call them malware. The difference between these concepts is significant.

There are many different types of malware and, accordingly, methods of protecting and combating them. Therefore, if you use incorrect terminology, then there is a high probability that many unnecessary solutions will be tried before you get rid of malware. For example, rootkits are seriously different from ordinary viruses and, often, to clean your computer from them it will not be enough to use only antiviruses.

This article will provide brief explanations of some of the most well-known types of malware, as well as some links to tools to combat them.

Various types of malware

Malware

Malware is an abbreviation for malicious software. This term is used in cases where it is necessary to combine a group of different malware. Therefore, if you come across such a term, then know that we are talking about several types of malware. For example, in the case of an antivirus, this term often implies the presence of tools to combat viruses, worms, Trojans and other malicious programs.

Virus

The term "virus" was originally used to refer to self-replicating programs that spread by inserting a copy of themselves into existing programs or documents. Sometimes, viruses spread by simply creating files with a copy of themselves, but this method of self-reproduction quickly ceased to be used, since such viruses are very easy to detect. The term itself comes from a similar concept in biology. Viruses infect cells and force them to create copies of them. Computer viruses were among the first malware. Today, viruses are quite rare, since, for the most part, they have been supplanted by other types of malware, such as worms and Trojans. Despite the fact that the term virus defines strictly one type of program, it is also often used to refer to any kind of malicious program, although this is incorrect.

Programs to combat viruses, you can review free antiviruses.

Worm (Worm or NetWorm)

Technically, there is a difference between viruses and worms, but quite often the term worm is replaced by the term virus. First of all, a worm differs from a virus in that it contains not only all the necessary code for its spread, but is a kind of transport for other malicious programs. For example, a worm may include a Trojan horse and activate it after infecting a computer. Secondly, worms use a network (local, Internet) to spread. In other words, unlike viruses, the unit of infection for worms is not files and documents, but computers (sometimes network devices). Some of the most famous epidemics were caused by worms.

Most often, anti-virus solutions are used in conjunction with firewalls (firewalls, firewalls) to combat worms.

Trojan or Trojan horse (Trojan)

The term "Trojan horse" (often shortened to simply "Trojan") is applied to malware that pretends to be a good application when in reality it is not. This type of malware gets its name from the tricks the Greeks used against the Trojans in Homer's Iliad. The main danger of a program is that it can not only pretend to be a useful program, but in reality provide useful functions as a cover for destructive actions. For example, by adding your code to good applications. Another danger is that the Trojan can hide from the system the execution of any malicious actions. From a technical point of view, Trojans themselves do not distribute themselves. However, they are often combined with network worms to spread infections, or they are added to good programs and then posted on the public network for download.

Due to the fact that, unlike viruses and others, Trojan programs can contain code to hide their actions, not only antiviruses, but also Trojan scanners are used to combat them.

Key logger

A special type of Trojan that records all keyboard keystrokes and/or mouse actions on your computer. Subsequently, all collected information is either stored in a place where an attacker can easily take it, or transmitted via a network or the Internet. Typically, a keylogger is used to steal passwords. In some cases, also for theft of personal information.

To combat keyloggers, not only antiviruses and Trojan scanners are used, but also secure on-screen keyboards, as well as programs for removing adware and spyware.

Advertising bookmarks (Adware)

Advertising bookmarks or Adware are a rather gray type of program. It can be either good, from a security point of view, or malicious. An example of a good option is to install free programs that also install the necessary code for subsequent viewing of advertisements. In a way, barter is used. You get functionality for free, but in return you view ads, from which the program developer receives income. However, among Adware there are also many malicious programs that, without your knowledge, send your personal information to advertisers or embed ad units in other programs, for example, in browsers.

Spyware

Spyware is a somewhat nebulous term. Initially, it mainly related to advertising bookmarks (Adware). However, today, many types of spyware are little different from Trojans. Their main purpose follows from their name - to spy on your actions, collect data and provide it to someone without your knowledge.

To combat spyware, antiviruses, Trojan scanners, and adware and spyware removal programs are used. In some cases, they can also be detected using firewalls. For example, if there is strange network activity.

Rootkits

A rootkit is a hidden type of malicious software that runs at the operating system kernel level. The main danger of rootkits is that, by infiltrating into the kernel level of the system, rootkits can perform any actions and easily bypass any security systems, because in order to hide, they only need to deny access to security tools. In addition, rootkits allow you to hide the actions of other malware. Typically, they are used to remotely control a computer.

Because rootkits run at a privileged level, they are quite difficult to detect and destroy. In most cases, conventional antivirus programs will not be able to cure an infected computer, so it is necessary to use special programs to remove rootkits. Also, if you suspect a rootkit infection, then it is best to check the system using a LiveCD or system recovery discs, since in this case it will be more difficult for the rootkit to hide its presence.

Zombie the computer

Programs for creating zombies from your computer are designed to inject code into the computer, which, like a logic bomb, will be activated under certain conditions (usually, we are talking about remote access - sending commands). When a computer is infected, Trojan programs are most often used. Subsequently, the zombie computer is used to send spam, carry out DDoS attacks (distributed attack on service), cheat counters and other malicious actions, without the knowledge of the owner.

As already mentioned, quite often programs for zombifying a computer appear together with Trojan programs, so it is worth using antiviruses and Trojan scanners to treat them. In more rare cases, zombie programs are infected using rootkits (or are part of the rootkits themselves), so if you find strange network activity, it would also be a good idea to check your system for the presence of rootkits.

Botnet

Often, zombie computers are organized into a network called a botnet. In such a network, some computers are relays for transmitting commands from the attacker’s remote computer to all zombie nodes. This allows attackers to easily control botnet networks amounting to tens and hundreds of thousands. As a rule, such networks are used to carry out coordinated malicious actions on the Internet, without the knowledge of the owners of infected computers.

The fight against botnet networks quite often involves finding relays and neutralizing them (blocking access to the Internet by providers, filtering on network devices, etc.).

Downloading malware by simply visiting (Drive-by-Download)

This type of malware takes advantage of browser vulnerabilities and shapes the html code of the page in such a way that simply visiting them will automatically download other malicious software to your computer. Often, such downloading occurs without the user's knowledge at all. Infection by such programs is possible in cases where the default browsers allow the installation of various components and extensions for websites. For example, if IE allows installation of ActiveX controls without prompting, then one visit to a website or even just opening an HTML page will be enough to infect a computer.

To combat such viruses, antiviruses are used that allow scanning downloaded files in real time (including the html code of web pages), firewalls (firewalls), as well as various programs for setting secure browser settings, some of which can be found in review of utilities for computer tuning.

Scareware or ransomware (Scareware and Ransomware)

Frightening or extortionist malware mainly relies on psychological influence (fear, threats, etc.) and requires you to transfer funds or click on a link, which will begin the installation of a Trojan or other malicious program. Technically, it is not uncommon for such programs to use only permitted and safe system functions, which is why security tools simply do not pay attention to them. And if they use dubious functions, then at a very primitive level.

In most cases, a simple antivirus is enough to eliminate them. If such a program uses only safe functions, then, unfortunately, quite often you will have to manually remove them.

Hidden indicators

Hidden indicators are used to collect information about you or your computer. Unlike spyware, they most often use permitted methods. For example, inserting a transparent image measuring 1 by 1 pixel onto a page or into an email. The point in this case is that when downloading this picture from an external server, it records not only the time and date of the request, but also all the information that it can receive, such as your IP address and browser version. On the one hand, this type can hardly be called malicious. On the other hand, your data, albeit often public, is collected on a third-party server without your knowledge.

Since, in general, hidden indicators use only permitted methods and mostly collect only publicly available data, it is highly likely that they will not be detected by any security tool. However, knowing about this type will give you pause when you encounter strange elements.

Final Words on Malware

As you can see, depending on the type of malware, not only the list of security tools may change, but also the approaches to combating them. Therefore, try to use the correct terminology - this will allow you and other people to save time and effort.

Note: Perhaps now you understand a little better why technical specialists start asking a lot of “strange” questions when they hear the word “virus”.

In this short review we will look at several applications that have been considered the best. These utilities will allow you to quickly detect and easily remove malware from your computer running Windows 10, 8, 7, XP.

How to remove malware

Currently, malware is widespread because it uses a fairly simple method to penetrate a user’s computer. These are not Trojans or vulnerabilities, but simple deception. Almost every one of us has installed a free application at least once. So, it is such applications, most often, that allow malware to penetrate the user’s computer, since the malware is simply integrated into their installer. When you install a free program, a bonus is installed - malware. But, we must add here that there are cases when paid programs also contain malicious programs, most often adware.

I would also like to remind you that malware poses a very serious threat, as it can cause great harm to your computer: damage or encrypt files on it, install a module or extension in the browser that will change its settings or begin to show a huge amount of intrusive advertising, and what else. not least important, it can work as a spy, collect detailed information about you, which will later be transferred to third parties. Therefore, it is obvious that the presence of malware on your
It is undesirable on your computer; it must be deleted immediately after being found.

The best malware removal utilities

Not all antivirus programs are good at detecting and removing malware, since malware most often behaves differently than regular viruses. Therefore, it is very important to have on your computer a utility specifically designed to solve this problem. Here you need to add that you can have one antivirus program installed on your computer, but you can use several utilities to remove malware. Each of them is an excellent addition to the security system of the Windows operating system.

AdwCleaner

Quickly find and easily remove malware. AdwCleaner will allow you to solve these two problems with ease.

If you need a utility that is small in size but can easily find and remove malware, then check out AdwCleaner. This is a very convenient program, which is primarily designed to quickly find and remove malware that infects web browsers and changes their settings.

In addition, this tool will easily help you get rid of adware and potentially unnecessary applications. The downside of the program is that AdwCleaner does not contain an auto-protection module and cannot protect you from new malware entering your system. In all other respects, this is a very effective tool and should be in the arsenal of every user who actively uses the Internet.

Zemana Anti-malware

Zemana Anti-malware is an excellent addition to your main antivirus, which allows you to protect your computer as much as possible from new malware.

Zemana Anti-malware is another great option among programs designed to search for and remove various types of malware. If you want to protect your computer as much as possible, then first of all we recommend that you install a classic anti-virus package, and as a means of protection against malware, choose the Zemana Anti-malware program.

This is an excellent application that appeared not so long ago, but has already earned respect among security experts. Zemana Anti-malware can analyze suspicious programs (called heuristic analysis) to see if their behavior exhibits characteristics that are characteristic of various types of malware, including adware and programs that change the settings of installed web browsers. This means that you will be protected from the latest malware, including the case where your computer is the first victim to be affected by a new malware and, accordingly, its description is not yet in the Zemana Anti-malware database of known threats. In any case, this malicious program will be quickly detected and safely removed from your personal computer. All this happens automatically, in the background.

We recommend scanning all downloaded files with Zemana Anti-malware before running them. This will allow you to prevent your computer from becoming infected with malware, as it will block them before the initial launch. And as you know, it is better to prevent infection than to treat it later.

As already mentioned, if you already have an antivirus program, paid or free, and you completely trust it, then you can additionally install Zemana Anti-malware Free. This program will not cause conflicts and will work as an add-on that will significantly increase the security of your computer.

Malwarebytes

Malwarebytes can easily replace your antivirus or work in tandem with it, thus significantly increasing your operating system's protection against malware.

Thinking about replacing your antivirus? Then meet Malwarebytes. This is a well-known program, originally created specifically for finding and removing malware. But by now it has seriously changed and can not only save you from malware, but also protect you from its penetration, as well as find and neutralize ordinary viruses. In addition, Malwarebytes contains a module that allows you to protect your computer from the most dangerous malware - ransomware viruses.

Malwarebytes 3.0 - scan results

Despite its enormous capabilities, this program can scan your computer very quickly, having one of the fastest scanners among all antivirus programs. With it, you can forget about the fact that scanning the entire computer can take half a day or more. Any security threat to your computer will be detected and quarantined.

Malwarebytes is not intrusive, but will always warn you when there are attempts to launch malicious programs or when any programs attempt to perform potentially dangerous actions on your system. Additionally, what needs to be added is that when you install it, you get all the features for 14 days free of charge, and then you are given a choice. Buy a license and use all the features, or use the free version of the program. In free mode, the automatic protection module will be disabled, but Malwarebytes, without any restrictions, will scan your computer at your request and will be able to remove all detected malware as before.

Kaspresky Virus Removal Tool

Kaspresky Virus Removal Tool (KVRT) is a free utility that is based on the Kaspersky antivirus core. Of course, this application will not provide you with comprehensive computer protection against malware, but it will give you complete control over manual scanning.

Kaspresky Virus Removal Tool can detect all types of malicious software, including adware and spyware, as well as a variety of Trojans, viruses and rootkits. Once malware is detected, you can remove it quickly and easily.

If you suspect that a file you downloaded may contain malware, be sure to check it using Kaspresky Virus Removal Tool. This program will analyze it, and based on this analysis, recommend whether it is safe or not to run it. It is very easy and convenient, since this program scans very quickly and consumes virtually no computer resources. This is especially convenient if you are using a computer or virtual machine with limited resources.

Although you must initiate the scanning process yourself, this does not reduce the program's capabilities. Kaspresky Virus Removal Tool is a great tool to check your computer from time to time or keep on your PC in case malware gets into the system and urgent treatment is needed.

An ideal malware removal tool that does not require installation on your computer and contains several useful additional utilities.

If your computer has been infected with malware and you are faced with the fact that it works very slowly, or the installation of programs is blocked, or if you need a tool that can be stored on a flash drive, then Emsisoft Emergency Kit is perfect for you. This is an application that does not require installation on a computer and can be launched from a regular flash drive or any other external device.

Emsisoft Emergency Kit already has a database of malware signatures, but it requires an Internet connection to update. Immediately after launch, the program will scan your computer for malware and then allow you to move it to quarantine. This will block the ability of malware to harm your system.

Computer viruses can significantly reduce the performance of your computer and also destroy all data on your hard drive. They are able to constantly reproduce and propagate themselves. Something reminiscent of human viruses and epidemics. Below is a list of the ten most dangerous computer viruses in the world.

Multi-vector Nimda worm

Nimda is a computer worm/virus that damages files and negatively affects the operation of the computer. First seen on September 18, 2001. The name of the virus comes from the word admin spelled backwards. Due to the fact that the Nimda worm uses several methods of propagation, it became the most widespread virus/worm on the Internet within 22 minutes. It is distributed via email, open network resources, shared folders and file transfers, as well as through browsing malicious websites.

Conficker

Conficker is one of the most dangerous and well-known worms, targeting computers running Microsoft Windows operating systems. Linux and Macintosh systems are completely resistant to it. It was first discovered on the network on November 21, 2008. By February 2009, Conficker had infected 12 million computers around the world, including government, corporate and home computers. On February 13, 2009, Microsoft offered a $250,000 reward for information about the creators of the virus. A special group was even created to combat Conficker, which was unofficially dubbed Conficker Cabal. The damage caused by the malware is estimated at $9.1 billion.

Storm Worm is a backdoor Trojan horse that infects Microsoft Windows operating systems. It was first discovered on January 17, 2007. It is distributed mainly by email with a letter that has the heading “230 dead as storm batters Europe”, and later with other headings. The file attached to the letter contains a virus that creates an information “hole” in the computer system, which is used to receive data or send spam. It is estimated that about 10 million computers were infected with the Storm Worm malware.

Chernobyl

Chernobyl is also known as CIH, a computer virus created by Taiwanese student Chen Ying Hao in June 1998. Works only on computers running Windows 95/98/ME. It is considered one of the most dangerous and destructive viruses, since after activation it is capable of damaging data on BIOS chips and destroying all information from hard drives. In total, about 500,000 personal computers around the world were affected by Chernobyl, losses are estimated at $1 billion. The author of the virus, Chen Ying Hao, was never brought to justice and now works for Gigabyte.

Melissa

Melissa is the first email macro virus, infecting about 20% of all computers worldwide. It was first noticed in March 1999. The malware was sent to the first 50 Outlook Express addresses. The letter had an attached file LIST.DOC (virus), allegedly containing passwords to 80 paid porn sites. The program was invented by David Smith from New Jersey. On December 10, 1999, he was sentenced to 20 months in prison and a fine of $5,000. While the damage caused by the virus amounted to about $80 million.

SQL Slammer

SQL Slammer was a computer worm that generated random IP addresses and sent itself to those addresses. On January 25, 2003, it hit Microsoft servers and another 500,000 servers around the world, which led to a significant decrease in Internet bandwidth, and generally cut off South Korea from the Internet for 12 hours. The slowdown was caused by numerous routers crashing under the burden of extremely high outbound traffic from infected servers. The malware spread with incredible speed; in 10 minutes it infected about 75,000 computers.

Code Red

Code Red is a specific type of computer virus/worm that attacks computers running the Microsoft IIS web server. It was first discovered on July 15, 2001. This malware basically replaced the content of pages on the affected site with the phrase “HELLO! Welcome to http://www.worm.com! Hacked By Chinese! In less than a week, Code Red hit more than 400,000 servers, including the White House server. The total damage caused by the virus is about $2.6 billion.

Sobig F

Sobig F is a computer worm that infected about a million computers running Microsoft Windows operating systems in 24 hours on August 19, 2003, thereby setting a record (although it was later broken by the Mydoom virus). Distributed via email with an attachment. After activation, the virus looked for addresses on the infected computer and sent itself to them. Sobig F itself was deactivated on September 10, 2003, and Microsoft promised $250 thousand for information about the creator of the virus. To date, the criminal has not been caught. The damage caused by the malware is estimated to be $5–10 billion.

Mydoom is an email worm that infects computers running Microsoft Windows. The epidemic began on January 26, 2004. The malware began to spread very quickly using email, a letter with the subject “Hello”, “Test”, “Error”, “Mail Delivery System”, “Delivery Notification”, “Report Server”, which had an attachment. When opened, the worm sent itself to other addresses, and also modified the operating system in such a way that the user could not access the websites of many news feeds, antivirus companies, and some sections of the Microsoft website. The virus has also put a huge strain on internet channels. Mydoom contains the text message "Andy, I'm just doing my job, nothing personal, sorry." Was programmed to stop spreading on February 12, 2004.

ILOVEYOU

ILOVEYOU is a computer virus that has successfully infected more than three million personal computers running Windows. In 2000, it was distributed by email, letter with the subject “ILOVEYOU” and the attachment “LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.VBS”. After opening the application, the worm sent itself to all addresses in the address book and also made numerous changes to the system. The damage caused by the virus is $10–15 billion, which is why it was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most destructive computer virus in the world.

Share on social media networks

According to Microsoft, one in 20 Windows computers is infected with malware. Microsoft got these statistics from data from its new Safety Scanner app. Indirect signs that the computer is infected: it begins to “slow down” and behave strangely, strange windows pop up, the Internet begins to work slowly, some sites become inaccessible (access to the sites Vkontakte.ru, Odnoklassniki.ru, Mail.ru is especially often blocked, Google), incomprehensible files are written to the flash drive, the start page in the browser has changed, new toolbars have appeared in the browser that you obviously did not install, the antivirus constantly signals that the computer is infected, but a full scan does not give any results. In this article I will show you what programs you can use to find and neutralize this very “malware”.

According to my observations (these are home computers and computers that are on the balance sheet of small enterprises that cannot afford to maintain a separate position of a system administrator) - every third the computer is either infected with malware or carries traces of such infection. The problem is that antiviruses do a poor job of detecting and neutralizing it. Therefore, there is an urgent need to use specialized programs. Below is a short overview of such programs (I arrange them in order of personal preference):

1. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

The program that I currently like the most in terms of functionality, detection quality and speed of operation (by the way, a new version of the program was released on 05/31/2011: 1.51.0.1200).

The program exists in free and paid versions. The free version lacks real-time protection, scanning and scheduled updates. For home use, the capabilities of the free version are entirely sufficient. It is enough once a month, or if there are any indirect signs of infection, to launch the program, update it from the Internet (by the way, the update file is small, about 8MB) and rescan the computer. A quick scan is usually sufficient. If desired, you can also perform a full scan. Instant scanning is only available in the paid version of the program. Then go to the page with the scan results and delete all found objects.

If necessary, restart the computer.

The program has a Russian-language interface, which makes it even more accessible for use. Link to download the program.

2. Spybot - Search & Destroy

Quite a good program, very functional and free. Its only disadvantage, from my point of view, is the long scanning time. In cases where you need to achieve a quick result, it is not very suitable, but when the scanning time (about an hour) is not critical, then you can ignore this.

Next - about the advantages. The program has such a good function as “Immunization”, that is, the program automatically blocks access to sites and elements on web pages with obviously infectious content. The program's operating algorithm is exactly the same as for all programs of a similar purpose: Launch the program, update (if this did not happen automatically), start scanning and, based on the results, delete all found objects. If necessary, restart the computer.

Currently the program exists in version 1.6.2. for several years now, which indicates some stagnation in the development of the program, but this can be explained by its free nature, and, accordingly, the lack of funds for its further development. But, again, this does not affect the quality of the scan. At the moment, beta release 2.0 has been published, in which the manufacturer promises us many different new “goodies”. Link to download the program.

3. Spyware Terminator

The program is absolutely free and has all the necessary functionality of paid versions: automatic updates, task scheduler, real-time protection, integration with antiviruses, an exclusion list and quarantine, there is free support on the product forum. There is full support for the Russian language. Link to download the program.

4.Microsoft Safety Scanner

The program is a portable malware scanner (software shell and all-in-one databases). That is, in order to check the computer, we need to download the entire program from the Microsoft website every time. The program size is currently about 70MB. There will likely be more in the future. The disadvantages also include the absence of any settings, that is, the program removes all malicious programs at its discretion and only at the end you can see what it removed in the report on the work done. Although, for novice users this option may be more preferable. Considering that Safety Scanner uses the same technology and the same signatures to detect dangerous software as the Microsoft Security Essentials antivirus, we can assume that the program’s scanning quality is quite good. Link to download the program.

5. Norman Malware Cleaner

Like the previous program, it is a portable malware scanner. Currently it weighs about 150MB. There are some minimum settings, there is “Quarantine”, that is, if the program overdoes it and removes something unnecessary, then there is an opportunity to return it to its place. There is no support for the Russian language. Link to download the program.

There are many versions: SUPERAntiSpyware FREE Edition (free version), SUPERAntiSpyware Professional Edition (paid version), SUPERAntiSpyware Online Safe Scan (online malware scan), SUPERAntiSpyware Portable Scanner (portable version of the program). According to reviews, it's a pretty good program. The disadvantages include the lack of support for the Russian language; there are third-party Russifiers. Link to download the program.

It comes in many versions: Ad-Aware Business Edition, Ad-Aware Total Security, Ad-Aware Pro, Ad-Aware Free. In my opinion, the last successful version of the program was Ad-Aware SE, then they went down the wrong development path. Testing the program did not leave any impressions. But this is my personal opinion, perhaps my readers will correct me. There is no support for the Russian language. The operating algorithm is the same: run - update - check - delete all found objects. Link to download the program.

There are also other programs designed for this purpose, but they are not presented in this review. In particular, Spyware Doctor, AVZ, IObit Security and many others. The market for this software is constantly growing and developing, which indirectly indicates the constant growth and development of the efforts of people who are trying to steal our personal data, impose more advertising on us based on our personal data, use our computer without our knowledge, etc. etc.
We can only wish you not to fall for their bait, and if this happens, deal with it wisely!