A malware cleaner is a program that detects and removes malicious software from a computer or network. Antivirus programs are the oldest and most common type of malware cleaner, but separate tools may be needed to detect spyware, adware, keyloggers, and rootkits. Scareware, which poses as a malware cleaner, is a growing problem. To avoid installing scareware, choose reputable software recommended by trusted sources and download directly from the manufacturer’s website.
A malware cleaner is a computer program designed to detect and remove malicious software from a computer or network. Malware includes viruses, trojans, worms, malicious scripts, spybots, adware, spyware, rootkits and keyloggers. To cover all the various types of infections, you may need two or more malware cleaning tools.
The oldest commercially available malware cleaner is an antivirus (A/V) program. These programs not only detect and remove viruses, but typically also look for worms and trojans, malicious scripts, and malicious macros. Antivirus software uses an internal database that lists signatures of known threats, looking for a match on your computer. Antivirus databases are updated continuously as new threats come to light, and many of the best A/V programs check for and download database updates several times a day.
In addition to protecting itself from known threats, an A/V program also monitors system processes for malware-like behavior from as yet undiscovered threats. This process is based on heuristic algorithms, i.e. the prediction that a particular behavior is dangerous. The implementation heuristic protects against “zero-day threats” or new threats that have just been released and have not yet been sampled and added to the database of known threats.
Spyware and adware make up another type of malware. These infections might profile your web usage to make pop-ups or redirect your browser to unwanted sites. Keyloggers, on the other hand, steal sensitive information which can lead to identity theft. Many A/V programs now add protection against spyware, adware, and keyloggers, but people commonly augment their A/V program with a separate malware cleaner to detect, remove, and prevent these threats.
Rootkits are a type of malware that falls into their own category. These insidious infections can latch onto legitimate operating system routines, making them difficult to detect. Once present on a system, a rootkit can install keyloggers and exploit vulnerabilities to open backdoors to spybots that remotely take control of a computer’s resources without the user’s knowledge. Rootkits can also cause varying degrees of system instability, from annoying freezes to spontaneous reboots.
While a malware cleaner designed to detect rootkits can find and remove one, there is no guarantee that the rootkit is actually gone. The programs and routines left behind by the rootkit may continue to cause damage, even replacing the deleted routine. The only real way to be absolutely sure that a computer is clean after finding a rootkit is to erase the drive, reformat it, and rebuild it. The real benefit of using a rootkit finder, then, is to rule out an overwhelming probability of a rootkit or discover one and take the appropriate action.
Unfortunately, many malicious software authors are capitalizing on the popularity of cleaners by packaging infections as antivirus programs. Often these programs are hosted on sites that offer a “free scan” of the computer, returning false results stating that threats have been found and should be cleaned up immediately to avoid serious system problems or worse. When the unsuspecting surfer installs the recommended (often paid-for) “malware cleaner,” they are really installing the infection itself. This type of malicious software is called scareware because it scares the user who installs it.
To avoid installing malware posing as a malware cleaner, select only well-known and top-notch software recommended by reputable websites such as PC World, Major Geeks, ZD Net, and Tu Cows. Independent review sites can give you a comparison of the best programs and how they compete with each other on functionality, effectiveness, and ease of use. Pay close attention to names of legitimate software, as malware often adopts a very similar name. Finally, download directly from the manufacturer’s website, or from a legitimate site like the above.
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