Detecting Malware Infection

There may be a number of signs to indicate the presence of malware on your computer. Things to look out for include:

The computer takes a long time to start up, shut down or run programs. This may be because other, unauthorised software has been set to run at these times.

The computer may crash more often than usual. This may be because malware is conflicting with other programs or has made the system less stable.

The Internet responds slowly. This may be because a malware program is using your Internet connection to send or receive data.

There is unusual Internet activity. For instance even when you are not using your browser. Again, this may be because a malware program is using your Internet connection to send or receive data.

Changes have been made to your data without your consent. For instance the home page your browser automatically opens when it starts may have been changed.

Programs behave differently. For instance you are directed to a strange web site whenever you use a search engine.

Some tools or utilities no longer work. For instance Windows Task Manager no longer appears when you press Alt+Control+Delete. Some malware prevents access to these tools in order to make it harder to detect and remove the program.

If you are using security software of any kind, it closes down by itself. This is because some malware can automatically close down firewalls, antivirus programs, etc.

The presence of any of these symptoms is not a definite indication that malware has infected your computer. To be more certain, it will be necessary to carry out a scan with an online tool or dedicated scanner.