How do we catch malware? And how can we prevent it?

Everyone has heard of malware.  And many have no doubt been affected by malware.  I have personally been affected by it, and I have helped out many friends and family who have also been affected.  To put it plain and simple.  Malware sucks.

Malware by definition means: malicious software.  Software that can do anything from slow your computer down to preventing it from booting altogether.  And how do people get malware on their computers?  That answer is a rather simple answer in principle; however, learning to prevent catching malware takes a conscious effort on your part (as the computer user).

So we will list a few, simple, common sense ways you can prevent malware (or at least lower your chances of catching it).

1- Only use web based services and sources that you trust...
This is pretty self explanatory.  If you shop, bank, and pay bills online; then you are trusting these services to handle your personal information with the highest cautions.  Being locked down and secure.  So instead of online shopping using 'Billy Bob's Online Wholesale' which looks suspicious; find an official online store or service you can purchase from.  Or even use a service like Amazon which allows people a old, Billy Bob a reputable place to market their goods.  In the long run, you'll be glad you did.

Why?  Because oftentimes, malware is delivered by suspicious or shady looking sites.  And they try to position themselves in a manner that you'll click their link and install that plugin to run a slideshow or play an audio file.  One of the common things I'm seeing quite a bit of now are fake media players.  One website in general I bumped into on a friend's computer a few months ago, looked like a site that let user's stream last week's episode of some television shows.

But when you click a link to watch a show, you are prompted to download their 'media player' which will install itself, wreak havoc on your computer and still not let you view your show.

2- Don't run around the web downloading every program that claims to keep you safe.
This is a big one for me.  There are many 'programs' out there that claim to keep you safe from a particular virus or piece of malware.  And they want you to download them.  And often, they are malware themselves.  Your best bet will be to find a good anti-virus program with malware protection.  In my case I run AVG 2012 and MalwareBytes.  Both are great solutions and they are free.

I worked on a PC a few months ago for a friend who happened to be attempting to run both McAfee and Norton Security suites.  Thinking they were doubly protected.  However, what had happened was both programs were detecting each other and causing conflicts slowing their computer down to a crawl.  On top of that she was running a web filtering program which had restricted 99% of her web traffic not allowing any outbound surfing.  What it did allow, was only for taking you to the software developers website.  My advice, find a security solution and stick with it.  Keep it updated and run scans regularly.

3- Watch where you surf!
This is one of the biggest pieces of advice that I can offer.  Watch where you surf on the web.  Just because a site is the number one hit on Google, doesn't mean that it's a legitimate website offering a legitimate product.  Always be skeptical.  Google and your anti-virus software does a pretty good job monitoring search result links for issues.  And when using search engines like Google.  Look at all the information following a result.  Especially the outgoing URL, which is in green under the site description.  See:

This information is here for a reason.  And it's a great way to make sure you are going to the site you want to go too.  If you are looking at a search result that doesn't look kosher, don't click on it.

4- Don't download programs you aren't familiar with!
This is the last common sense rule for protecting yourself against malware.  If you visit a website and you get a prompt asking you to download a program or plugin from their site; don't do it without educating yourself about what you are downloading.  For example, if I visit a website and it asks me to install Adobe Flash Player and a download prompt kicks up for me to download it from them.  Then the first thing I do is visit Adobe.com and visit the Downloads section and visit the Flash Player portion of their site.

If it plays a little animation and tells me I'm up to date.  I know I'm getting prompted for something that isn't Flash Player on that particular website.  Remember, to get a malware infection the bad guys are expecting your to download and in most cases run something to spread it.

These four rules will not protect you 100% from malware.  But they will help decrease your chances of catching any of the bad stuff.  And if you do happen to get some malware, it's not the end of the world.  There are ways to fix it.  If not, you can always reload and OS in extreme cases.