Tag Archives: virus

Beware of fake Antivirus Software!

IT, Malware, Security, , , , , , ,

Total AV

One of our recent jobs involved clearing some fake Antivirus software from a Windows computer. Unbeknown to the user, they had done some research for “good” software on Google. TotalAV appeared at the top of the results list, and several review sites also cited it as being genuine and reliable. Running a search online right now, and page 1 and 2 of Google show nothing but good reviews. Majority of these are paid…

The  software was installed, but after a while the computer started to slow down considerably. The computer was virtually brand new (just a year old) and specification of this computer was also high.

We ran some 3rd party anti-malware tools, and various services and software files were flagged, at which point we did our own research on this antivirus software. As it turned out, it’s a scam. The developers of the software are in fact planting malicious content and files and from what we have read are in fact doing more harm than clearing any genuine viruses from your computer.

We advised the user to try and claim back on the money spent and we then advised to stick with Windows own built in security protection which, with Windows 10, is more than adequate for home/home office use.

Some links to back up this post:

Bot Crawl: http://botcrawl.com/totalav/

Malware Tips: https://malwaretips.com/threads/total-av-is-it-a-scam.80362/

In addition we would like to point you in the direction of this article over at Blokt, to help users to stay safer online: https://blokt.com/guides/what-is-spyware

Microsoft Security Essentials – I recommend it over others!

IT, Security, , , , , ,

The first advantage of MSE is that it’s 100% free, and I would think most likely always will be… as it’s in Microsoft’s own interest to ensure that it’s client’s and customers are safe and secure whilst using their operating system!

The second advantage of it is that it’s going to be honed to the exact architecture and specific requirements of the OS.

Other things to mention are that it’s integrated directly with Windows/Microsoft update so virus definitions are updated automatically.

Basically the whole piece of software integrates beautifully with the Windows OS (Server versions also available!), it doesn’t slow the computer down unnecessarily and it doesn’t affect usage.

I’ve always said ‘why should you pay for software to protect you from viruses and malware, Microsoft should provide you with this protection’ and now they are finally doing that.

For personal, home and small business users this is perfect!

You can find the download link & more information here: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/