The term Malware is thrown around a lot.  If you’ve found your computer infected and had a repair done or just brought your computer in for a clean-up, you’ve likely been told the technician removed malware infections, but what does that really mean?

There are quite a few types of Malware infections, but to give you an idea we’ll discuss one that’s been busy infecting a lot of computers – Ividi.A.

Ividi.A is a type of malware that fits under the sub-category of Adware.  Adware is a type of malware you’re more likely to notice at work than say a bot.  Adware is what gives you all those irritating pop-ups and is often the cause of someone seeking out a computer company to do a repair.

Ividi.A has infected thousands of computers all over the world; once it infects your computer it will mess up system files and add new entries to the Windows registry obstructing the smooth performance of your computer.  Ividi.A redirects your chosen websites to other harmful websites and can change your computer settings at random.  Ividi.A effects all browsers.

Ividi.A will monitor your browsing activity and transmit your information all with the intent of profiting off of you.  It will also download executable files that use up large amounts of system resources; this is another reason users seek out assistance with their computers – generalized slow performance.

What does all of that mean?

Ividi.A’s primary goal is to make money for it’s creator, which it does by bombarding you with advertisements (aka popups) and either getting you to click on them, thereby earning the creator click-through type income or by directing you to malicious websites which in turn either steal your identity or make money off you in other ways.

How does Ividi.A get on my computer?

There are two typical ways the Ividi.A infects a computer.  The most frequent is through a Fake Scanner Website.  So you’re concerned your computer is running a little slowly and head out to the Internet to find a virus scanning program to thoroughly check your PC…oops that program you just downloaded to check for virus’s and other infections was actually Ividi.A.  There is a huge amount of fake downloadable scanning software on the Internet and just to throw salt in that wound, you often pay for that scanning software that is no more than malware in disquise.

The second way Ividi.A infects your computer is through a fake update, often a fake flash update.

In the end all malware is looking to profit off of infected computers and they are getting more and more creative on how they accomplish their goal.

Here is an example of a fake warning you might see, for those who click “Please activate…” they’ve just downloaded malware.

Some cyber criminals are even creating banner ads that look similar to this, making users think they just received a popup warning from their computer.  They click on the ad and again have just allowed the bad guys in.

If you’re concerned your computer is infected contact Top Speed Computer Service.

[whohit]Ividi.A[/whohit]