Is your computer guarded by the best malware removal tools? If not, then safeguarding your system from the malicious malware programs must be your top priority. By installing malware removal software, you can detect the various malware infections that can significantly harm your computer. It is imperative that you must install the best antimalware software that safeguards your system from the potential attacks. The top 6 best malware removal software are as follows:

ComboFix: ComboFix software removal program has been essentially designed to protect your computer system from the malware infections. Once this particular software is installed, then first of all it will take a back up of your registry to ascertain whether the Windows Recovery Console has been installed or not. If the console is installed, then it scans the computer for malwares and removes them. After the completion of the scanning process, it will display a report containing a detailed list of the various kinds of the malwares that have been detected in the computer. You can make use of the report to remove those malware that have not been removed automatically.

SmitRem: SmitRem is specially designed antimalware software that protects the computer from the various kinds of the adware and spyware programs such as Security IGuard, SpyTrooper, SpywareStrike, Search Maid, AntiVirusGold, Crystalys media, Security Toolbar, SpyAxe, PSGuard, Video iCodec, and so on. It also cleans or removes any kind of the temporary files that may be stored in the computer. The installation process of this particular antimalware program is very easy and simple.

SUPERAntiSpyware: SuperAntiSpyware is best antimalware software that provides optimum protection to your computer from the deadly malware infections. It scans the hard drives, memory and other drives of the computer. Some of the key features of this particular software are auto-scan on start up, real-time scanning, scheduling service, registry protection and so on. The best thing about the SuperAntispyware is that it will not slow down the processing speed of your computer. It also has a special repair system that repairs broken Internet connections, desktops and registry editing.

Spybot Search & Destroy: Spybot Search & Destroy is a very popular malware removal program all across the globe. This program detects and removes malwares, adware and spywares that can harm your computer. Hosts File is a very prominent useful tool that comes with this program that blocks any kind of the malicious adware programs infecting the computer. Spybot search and destroy a detailed that is not very difficult to understand. The report provides you with an option to deselect any item that must not be removed or cleaned away from the computer.

Emsisoft Anti-Malware: Emsisoft anti-malware is one of the best antimalware tools that guard the system against the various kinds of the new spywares, Trojans, viruses, worms, bots, rootkits, TracingCookies and so on. The processing speed of the computer is not at all affected once your install this particular software into your computer. The software comes with three guards – file guard, surf protection and behavior blocker. These guards provide the best level of protection against various virus and malwares.

Malwarebytes: Malwarebytes is a free malware removal tool that provides a best shield to your computer from the most advanced malicious spyware and malware programs. The best part of this antimalware is that unlike other malware removal programs, it does not consume much time to scan your computer. Some of the essential features of Malwarebytes are multiple drive scanning, context menu options and the FileAssassin option.

Therefore, do not waste any time in installing a best antimalware program in your computer to get a shield from the unwanted threats.

Malware, or malicious software, is a general term which includes viruses, worms, Trojan horses, rootkit, spyware and key loggers and more. It is designed to disrupt computer operations, steal sensitive data, and gain access to private computer networks. The first malicious applications were created as pranks, but in early 2000 hackers began using malware for profit.

The cost of malware can financially (and psychologically) be devastating. Cyber-criminals can use the stolen information to get your money direct from your bank account or simply sell your data on the Black market. Equally bad is that as these criminal organizations operate across international borders it is difficult if not impossible for authorities to trace them.

This might mean losing your hard-earned money, your identity being stolen or paying excessive credit card bills at the end of the month. For businesses, it might mean not only expensive recovery procedures, but also that customers lose faith in your ability to hold their most sensitive information such as credit card details.

Knowing when you’re infected is as important as knowing how to fix and prevent it. Here are a few general symptoms that may indicate that your PC is infected with malware.

Common symptoms of malware

Performance-wise, you may notice that your computer runs slower than usual. It freezes, hangs or become unresponsive and at times, it will may even restart by itself for no valid reason. You will often see new icons on your desktop or applications that you do not recognize. And, you’re unable to access important tools such as the control panel, task manager, registry editor or command prompt.

When trying to visit websites, you may receive the error “Internet Explorer could not display the page” when attempting to access certain websites. Sometimes your web browser freezes, hangs, or is unresponsive and often the browser’s default home page is changed. When navigating, you can get redirected to other web pages and get a lot of annoying pop-up messages. You’ll often see new toolbars on your browser that you know you did not download.

An obvious malware sign is if your contacts receive an email from you asking them to open an attachment or to click on a malicious link.

If in doubt, scan your system

It’s really quite difficult to tell if your PC is infected with malware or if the symptoms are caused by other legitimate reasons such as software or hardware incompatibilities or system instability. The only way to be sure is to scan your system for malware. There are many free online scanners on the web and with good reviews, be sure to choose one with comprehensive malware detection, very low false positive, one-click activation and a decent scan speed.

The future of malware attacks

Malware attacks are becoming more sophisticated all the time making them increasingly difficult to detect and remove. As these have evolved the potential financial damage to both individuals and businesses has also increased.

We expect that malware developers will continue to take advantage of the vulnerabilities found in Bring-Your-Own-Devices (BYOD) and cloud computing given the increasing popularity of BYOD and migration from the traditional computing environment to cloud resources.

Frighteningly, malware is now focused more on evasion than propagation and attackers will have the patience, resources and knowledge to carry out a sustained and sophisticated attacks. In the past malware was designed to do maximum damage as fast as possible, but now they are designed as sleepers, sitting waiting for the right time to take action, just as you are doing your internet banking or another sensitive time.

Protecting yourself

Here are steps to secure your PC from malware.

1. Buy an antivirus program.

Install an antivirus that provides a complete, comprehensive and in-depth anti-malware solution, with an integrated personal firewall, social media scanner and anti-theft. There are many other antivirus products available, but I strongly advise that you get one that you are confident has all of the advanced features expected in an advanced security product like social network scanning and advanced heuristics.

2. Keep your system updated

For Windows, it is best to set your “Windows update” to run automatically. Updates fix bugs which are being used by malicious people to hack into your system and install malware. Don’t forget, that updates are also needed for third-party applications like Java, Flash and Adobe Reader.

3. Click through only to trusted sites and links

When searching online, stay away from suspicious sites. Do not just open a link posted in your social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Always hover your cursor on the link to check if the URL address is the correct address. If in doubt use an online link scanner where you can paste a link and check the link’s reputation with various scanning engines.

4. Don’t open suspicious email attachments

Malware is often hidden in attachments and opening the attachment will install the malware into your PC. This includes auto preview, so if you use a preview pane this will increase the risks of malicious attachments.

5. Restrict or prohibit Peer-to-Peer (P2P) applications

Peer to Peer or File Sharing applications are notorious for distributing malware. The most common files that have malware are expensive applications, key generation tools and porn.

If you never heard about malware attacks, it means you’re living under a rock. After highly devastating Nimda and Bagle worms that brought Internet to knees, and the explosion of rogue security scams like XP antivirus and Antispyware Master, it’s obvious that sooner or later every PC user faces the need to remove malware.

Literally hundreds of all kinds of software, tools and utilities are sold promising to clean out every possible infection. However, most of the advertised products never deliver, and the rest cannot guarantee the 100% detection and removal rate.

Purchasing several programs (antivirus, antispyware, antispam, etc) sure helps in removing malware, but the price easily goes beyond $100, not speaking about yearly subscription update. Many computer owners have reasons to consider this price unacceptable.

A common myth about PC security is that having antivirus program updated with latest malware definitions is enough to protect the computer. But being as focused as they are, antivirus programs easily miss a number of other types of malware, which are simply exuberant these days. The terms itself includes well over a dozen of threats, from phishing to identity theft, which is much broader than a virus definition.

That’s why it should be remembered that no antivirus is capable of detecting every malicious program, and one or another pest may one day find its way to sneak into the system. Then the question rises, “how to remove malware once it is inside?”

I am not going to tell you to buy yet another cool software. One a single occurrence of infection takes place, it’s just not justifiable to spend money to do the job that takes less than 5 minutes to complete. Once you know what free malware remover can do a full system cleaning.

Command-line scanners provided by software manufacturers are powerful, yet free tools built on the code of their main anti-malware programs with which they share the pest definitions and detection algorithms. You shouldn’t be afraid of the term “command-line scanner” because it’s really easy to use, and requires minimum input on user’s part.

Command-prompt based malware removal tools require no installation, that’s why they are very helpful when due to system corruption no new software can be installed (at this stage, users often bring their computers to repair men, where leave outrageous sums of money to get PC’s fixed, not speaking about the time their computers are left without service). A little command-line scanner detects and removes a wide variety of infections:

• rootkits
• dialers
• spyware
• adware
• Trojans
• Worms

All that’s needed to start the malware removal process is download the archive from manufacturer’s website, unpack it, and run the command prompt. Then, type in the string of commands to instruct the program how to handle infections, and hit Enter. It’s easier than configuring desktop antivirus software, really!

Providing you have a decent antivirus protection, a second layer of PC security is all you need for safe surfing. Run a test with command-line scanner to explore a non-GUI component, critical to your PC security.

If you get an email that instructs you that a package has been returned to FedEx and you need to get the label of the package printed and placed back onto the package so it can be retrieved, beware!

When you go to open the zip file and "extract," the information – you wind up getting a Mal-ware / spy-ware program installed into your computer.

The name of this "software," is system tools. It is disguised as a "security tool," to prevent spy-ware / Mal-ware.

It automatically places an icon on your pc named "system tool," and immediate pop-ups start showing themselves which read "Your PC has been infected with 27 viruses, click here and get removal tool."

This is a blatant lie. The only "infection," you have gotten is the mal-ware – bogus software itself!

It continually pops-up on your screen – interrupting your progress. When you try to close the program it throws yet another pop-up reading "continue unprotected?"

When you close the icon, you still get "balloon," messages from your tray saying your PC has a Trojan virus which is trying to steal your credit card information.

This mal-ware is relentless. It pops-up every two minutes, and is very annoying. Furthermore – when you search for such a "fake security tool removal," it will let you complete the search, but when you try to purchase a legitimate tool which will remove it, it prevents you from using the tool to "remove," it – by popping up every time you try and open the removal program.

It also tries to confuse the user by displaying a full page "security tool software," when you enter your credit card number to buy the removal system.

This "system," is $ 97.00 and is a hoax. It does not even exist. I did not buy the security tool software suggested by the pop-up.

What I did have to do, is boot my system into a "safe mode," (F8) to keep the pop-up from interrupting my purchase of a real removal tool ($ 29.95)

After installation of the real security tool (Super-anti-spy-ware) I ran a scan on my system – it found 85 (Trojans, Mal-ware, and spy-ware) on my PC.

This is a superior, major, new mal-ware, which bypassed and got by my MC-Gaff PC security system which I always keep running.

This is the very first time in years that something got by my PC security and infected my pc with Mal-ware.

I have removed it, and have had no problem since. I just wanted to warn the good folks out there – there are systems which can get by MC-Gaff, as well as other PC security systems – by posing themselves as a FedEx email which my system did not flag.

How to avoid this? If you get such an email from FedEx saying your "package had been returned undelivered," and to retrieve the label for the package, open a zip file and "extract," such information, do not fall for it.

I send packages and receive packages fairly regularly, so the email seemed legit. If this information can save only one person from having to go through the headache of buying additional software to remove such a threat for ($ 29.95) this post is worth it.

I suggest emailing this information to your friends so they too can avoid such a scam. The software removal tool I did buy worked great, and it did take it off of my PC but I did not buy it from the company, which installed the fake Mal-ware disguised as a "security tool."

I got it from a separate company, which showed the very icon of the real threat. This post is meant to expose this threat to others, so they do not fall for such scams.

Even with an installed, running, professional security tool (such as I had running) It is possible to be infected with Mal-ware. So, happy surfing – and keep your PC safe.

You may be confused when those who seem to know a lot about this topic use terms like "antivirus" and "malware" interchangeably. Or you may wonder why you need a firewall if you have an antivirus. To the casual reader, these terms can be confusing – and certainly off-putting. That's why so many people put their trust in paid-for solutions. And money in those companies' pockets.

Over the next few minutes I am going to lift that veil of confusion and empower you to make decisions for yourself that will protect your PC from those who might seek to damage it for fun or profit.

First: what is a PC security suite?

A security suite comprises of six items:

1. An antivirus

2. A firewall

3. A malware detector

4. A web page phishing, or malware, detector

5. A software uninstaller

6. A cache cleaner and leftover removal software

Let's take a look at each of these aspects in turn.

Best Free Antivirus

There are at present 5 key players when it comes to free antivirus software providers: Avast, AVG, Microsoft Security Essentials, Avira and Panda.

Avast is my favorite of the bunch. First installation was a little frustrating as it took quite a long time and hung a couple of times, but it was well worth it in the end. In many of the reports from others online I found it to be a very well regarded solution. In fact, it won Bronze in WebUser's "Best Antivirus 2015." Not bad at all, considering it was the only free antivirus deemed worthy of inclusion among the paid-for contenders.

Special Mention:

When I first tried Panda, the cloud based antivirus I was very unimpressed. It did its best to upload all my files to the cloud and make them inoperable on my PC. Now, two years later, it has matured and does a very noteworthy job with very lightweight software. It's cloud-based so it doesn't clog up your laptop.

Free Firewall

A firewall is used to protect your home network – not just an individual PC. Windows already comes with its own Firewall, but if you want real control over what your computer is sending and receiving online, Glasswire is awesome!

It's a network and threat monitor all in one – and can even tell you what your laptop has been accessing online in your absence (or what applications have accessed it).

You'll get notified the first time any software accesses the internet so you can see whether it's intentional or a nasty,

Glasswire will even monitor your bandwidth and internet usage for you. Hurry though, Glasswire have stated this won't stay free forever!

Anti-Malware Security

Contrary to many people's ideas of an antivirus, it's just the front line of defense and doesn't always ensure a trouble-free laptop. From time to time it's important to run a malware scan on your machine. This is to find malicious software that you downloaded in error, or got past your antivirus because it was unknown to it at the time.

The very best of the free options, in most people's opinion according to my research (and in my own experience) is MalwareBytes free anti malware.

When using this program, always update it beforehand, as it is constantly being updated to battle new threats. Also, don't delete anything unless you do your homework on what it is recommending you delete.

Always delete a Trojan.

Web Link Malware Detector

When browsing search results it's not always possible to avoid the infected sites that will harm your laptop just by visiting them. Thankfully there is a way to know whether to visit a link or avoid it!

There are two contenders for this section and both are equally good.

1. The Web of Trust

2. Avast Online Security for Chrome

Both give a green light (either circle or tick) beside a safe link in your search results – or an orange or red one if the site link is dodgy. The only difference is that Web of Trust has fewer users to report malware and so I would trust Avast more.

Software and Leftover Files Removal

From time to time you will need to remove old or unwanted software and the best uninstaller I have found that balances amount of leftover files removed with speed of operation is iObit's rather excellent Advanced Uninstaller.

Be careful when doing deeper cleans that you make sure any registry files you delete are part of the unwanted software. However, this has not been the same problem using iObit as it has been when using other uninstallers which have more scope for mistakes – deleting incorrect registry files can be fatal for your PC or laptop!

CCleaner

CCleaner is short for "crap cleaner" and is used for clearing cookies, temporary files and all sorts of other junk files that when let build up on your machine over time, will slowly drag its performance down to a crawl.

Admittedly I own the professional version of this, but the free version is not to be taken lightly. In fact there's little extra to the pro version than extras like automatic cleaning and self timing. However at less than $ 20 for a lifetime license and the ability to use the same license for every laptop in the household it's a very small price to pay.

Defraggler

Check out Defraggler from the same people, to help defrag your machine on a monthly basis so that after removing files, what remains is kept in one piece to allow smoother hard drive operation.

There you have it – a complete set of absolutely free software that will rival any paid antivirus security suite!

Enjoy the savings and the peace of mind.

Malware is becoming more and more of a problem these days as we shift more of our lives online, so knowing how to get rid of malware and how to avoid it in the first place will stand you in good stead for the future and help you to enjoy more of your online experience.

What Exactly Is Malware?

Malware is an abbreviated term for "malicious software", and refers to a wide variety of "virtual nasties", as I like to call them. These nasties can be sometimes be difficult to get rid of and include things like:

Worms – these "burrow" into a system and cause damage often via email, and use your email contacts or address book to continue the process.

Trojans – harmful or annoying software that comes in by the back door, often disguised as a normal file.

Spyware – often comprising keyloggers and screen capture systems, designed to track your online movements and extort personal details, like bank account numbers, social security numbers etc. for the purpose of online fraud.

Adware – a normally harmless but annoying piece of code or software that monitors your online movements and presents advertisements linked to your browsing habits, generating revenue for the creator of the code. They are often linked with illegal or illicit sites such as pornography or hacking.

The damage these parasites cause can range from slight slow downs in your computer's performance, or annoying pop-ups, all the way to harvesting your personal details and information and even the irreparable damage to files your operating system as a whole.

How Do I Get Rid Of Malware?

Now that we've established what it actually is, we can get on to the task of how to get rid of malware.

Get An Anti-Spyware Software

While many people may have an anti-virus software, these days it is always good practice to have an anti-spyware application too, as this will create a double barrier of protection and take care of all the latest malware and virus definitions. If you don't have an anti-spyware software yet, you can find some recommendations and get a free scan at my website, at the bottom of this article.

Switch Off Your Internet Connection and Run A Scan Immediately

Run your anti-virus and anti-spyware scanning software immediately if you suspect you may be infected. Running both softwares will stop malware "falling through the net". Switching off your internet connection will avoid any slow down and prevent any new attacks to your computer, as well as stopping the malware that may be on your machine from communicating or spreading itself to other computers.

Once Detected, Zap It!

Once your software has detected the rogue in question, follow the instructions on how to get rid of the malware. Simply deleting it may not work – if it's a program file it will need to be uninstalled through the Add / Remove Programs utility in your Windows Control Panel . If the parasite has made changes to your registry, you may need to use a registry cleaner to help restore things back to normal, and get rid of the malware completely.

How Do I Avoid Malware In The Future?

Here are some good practice tips to help you avoid getting malware in the future.

Always Use A Firewall

The firewall helps to prevent attacks against your computer without you knowing. Making use of a firewall is essential when going online today. In fact if you're not using one right now, make that your first priority. Windows computers all come with a default firewall which is pretty good, so get that set up immediately if you haven't already done so. Most anti-virus software and anti-spyware softwares come with some pretty beefed-up firewalls these days so there's no reason to be without one.

Use Anti-virus Scanners To Check All Downloads and Emails

All downloads and emails should be run through your anti-virus software before being placed on your computer system, even if they're from a trusted friend. This will eliminate many possible problems.

If you're running on Windows, and downloading executable files, .exe files, (such as programs or software) you should often get a dialog box telling you whether the site you're downloading from is authenticated by Microsoft. While this is not 100% effective as not all legitimate sites have been through the authentication process, it can help you think twice if you have any doubts.

Be Careful What Sites You Visit

Particular care should be taken on Torrent and Peer-2-Peer file sharing networks as these have become a haven for hackers to spread their plagues via seemingly harmless Trojans.

This goes without saying really, but please avoid illegal or immoral websites as these are where the most dangerous and lethal virus and malware attacks occur. However, it is always good practice to follow the above tips and make sure your anti-virus and anti-spyware systems are up-to-date, just in case you get redirected to any of those questionable sites … yes, this does happen.

Weather you know it or not, every time your computer starts up there are programs that run in the background and start up without your knowledge every time your computer comes up. Even though many of these programs are often times necessary to run your PC, sometimes it helps to turn a few of these things off to help increase your computers performance. But beneficial programs are not the only things that start up when you boot up your computer. Sometimes, if you are infected with a virus or a malware, they too will come up when your PC reboots so that they can run in the background without you even knowing they are there until you start noticing some of the tell tale signs that something is wrong.

Safekeeper is one such malware. Disguised to look and act as if it's really a beneficial antispyware program, this malicious software is actually built to cause so many problems on your PC and give you false warnings that there are other malicious files on your PC till you purchase and activate the program. The only difference is if you do purchase and activate the program, instead of your computer being protected; it will just keep telling you the same thing and causing the same problems and you need to remove safekeeper from your computer fast.

Safekeeper gets on your PC in one of two ways, either pretending that it is an update for a commonly used program called Flash or even a necessary program to watch videos online. Either way, if you agree to install the updates you will instead get the Safekeeper malware. Also during installation there will be several small, harmless files placed in your operating system.

The next time you reboot your computer the malware will start up and pretend to begin scanning your PC for malicious programs. This is where those earlier installed files come in. The malware software picks them up and tell you they are viruses. There are other files it will find, but those are necessary program files on your computer and to prevent this you need to remove safekeeper from your PC.

To try to make it sound as if things are much worse than they really are, safekeeper will also give you an endless stream of pop up messages warning you that your computer has been compromised in some way.

All of these tactics are used to deceive you into believing that your PC has a serious security problem as well as the trustworthiness of the safekeeper software. All of these problems plus many more can easily be stopped dead by downloading a system and registry scanner to get rid of the hassle of fake scans or constant pop up messages. With your computer protected, you will no longer have to worry about malicious programs. If your computer has suddenly slowed right down or is generating warning messages you are not sure about download and run a system and registry scanner and protect it now.

Troens.Trensil is a trojan horse, a form of malware. It contains malicious code that, when executed, carries out actions that typically cause loss or theft of data.

Trojans can also open a back-door into your system, contacting a controller which can then have unauthorized access to your computer. Trojans may also harm your computer directly.

The term trojan horse comes from the tale of the wooden horse used to defeat the City of Troy in an ancient Greek legend. The story goes that the army besieging Troy pretended to give up by sailing away. However they left behind a gigantic wooden horse. The Trojans treated the horse as booty and hauled it into their city. That night, soldiers concealed in the horse came out and captured Troy.

The comparison is apt. In the world of information technology, trojan horses often use social engineering to infect computers, persuading their victims to voluntarily install them on their computers by presenting themselves as useful or interesting programs or files.

If you are infected, it is likely that the trojan got into your computer when you unknowingly:

• clicked on malicious links or visited malicious websites, or you
• downloaded freeware, adware or other content, or you
• opened infected emails, or you
• connected an infected USB device or other media to your computer.

In all these cases, Trojan-Trensil is distributed via a specially crafted PDF document acting as a carrier which exploits a vulnerability that is found in most versions of Windows.

What Trojan.Trensil does to your computer?

The first thing that Trojan.Trensil does is to create the following files:

• % Temp% 000ELISEA310.TMP
• % UserProfile% Templates1A0E621SV.CAB
• % UserProfile% Templateswincex.dll
• % UserProfile% Templateswincex.dllbk

Immediately after that, it makes changes to the following registry subkey:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesWmdmPMM

Then the trojan creates a service called WmdmPMM. This service causes the trojan to be executed every time you start up your system.

After that, it connects to two remote locations:

• 112.185.190.193
• 163.30.24.5

Once the trojan has connected to these to locations, you computer is completely vulnerable. The malware can now receive commands from the attacker's remote location and send information to that or other remote locations.

Therein lies the danger … your private data (bank account numbers, credit card details, passwords etc) is now entirely exposed, ready for the taking.

In addition, this trojan is difficult to detect because it can enter your antivirus program and disable it, along with your firewall.

While the above description of what Trojan.Trensil does to you computer may seem a bit technical, knowing the details of how this malware operates is the key to getting rid of it as you'll see below.

So how do you know if you have the trojan?

Symptoms of a Trojan.Trensil attack

Here are some common symptoms of a Trojan.

[1] Your system slows down considerably. You'll notice it when you try to open programs, connect with the internet or shut down your computer. This is because the malware is increasing the use of your CPU (central processing unit). If it is not removed it can cause a complete crash.

[2] You are plague with pop-up ads. This happens because Trojan.Trensil has corrupted your Windows registry in order to deploy these unwanted advertisements.

[3] You find that searches using Google and Yahoo are redirected to a variety of unwanted sites which can be infected. You'll notice that the background image on your desktop and your browser's homepage settings have changed. These are common symptoms of a Trojan.

[4] You may also notice that various files, folders, icons and shortcuts in different locations of the system are being created.

Having these symptoms does not necessarily prove that you are infected by this particular trojan. However, they are strong indicators that you have a serious problem.

You can check for a Trojan.Trensil infection by searching for any of the four files shown above. In addition, you could look in the Windows registry for the registry subkey mentioned above.

Removing the Trojan.Trensil

Here's how you can rid your computer of this trojan:

[1] Turn of Windows System Restore – in your desktop explorer, right-click on My Computer and select Properties . Click on the Systems Restore tab. In the Systems Restore dialogue box, click Turn off System Restore on all drives . Ignore the warning in the pop-up box and click OK.

[2] Restart your computer in safe mode – as your computer is starting up, press the key F8 rapidly until the Advanced Options menu shows on your screen. Then select Safe mode from the menu that appears.

[3] Delete temporary internet files – open desktop explorer (either from the start button or by pressing the Windows key and E at the same time). Click on Local Disk (C :). Then navigate to: Documents and SettingsYourusernameLocal SettingsTemporary Internet Files. You need to delete all these files.

Click anywhere in the right hand pane then press Control and A simultaneously to highlight all the files. Hit the Delete button while holding down Shift and when the warning box comes up, click OK (still holding Shift down). All the files will disappear.

[Holding Shift down means the files are deleted fully rather than being sent to the Recycle Bin. If you don't hold down Shift then you'll have to empty the Recycle Bin.]

[4] Open Task Manager – by pressing the ALT + CTRL + DEL keys simultaneously. Windows Task Manager will open. You need to free up your CPU by ending any useless programs that are running.

You can find the programs you need to end as follows:

If you are in Windows 7 or earlier versions of the Windows operating system, go through the list of programs under the Processes tab. Look for telltale signs of malicious programs, such as programs with odd-looking filenames or ones that are running from a temporary folder. Once you have found a program you want to end, highlight it and then click on End Process .

If you are using Windows 8, go through the list of programs shown under the Details tab in Task Manager. Check under the Command-line column (on the right). Again, once you have found a program you want to end, highlight it and then click on End Process .

[5] Clean up registry entries created by Trojan.Trensil – the easiest way to do this is to delete all files that are safe to remove from the registry. There are two ways you can do this:

(a) Click the Start button and then click Run . Type regedit.exe in the Run dialogue box that appears and click OK. When the Registry Editor box opens, click on Edit and then on Find . Enter the name of a file you want to remove in the File What field and click Find Next . When the file turns up you can delete it. You can the precise names of files that can be safely deleted by going to a Norton / McAfee knowledgebase site.

(b) A simpler way to download and use a maintenance application such as jv16 Power Tools which includes a registry cleanup program. You just follow the instructions to find a list of 'files that should be safe to remove' and then click on the Remove button.

That's it! Your computer should now be free of the Trojan.Trensil malware, provided you have been able to follow the above steps for getting rid of it.

If you find it too complicated, you should contact an online computer maintenance and repair company who can clean up your computer from a remote location. The cost should not exceed € 20-25 or $ 30-35.

But, whatever you do, it is vital that you get rid of the Trojan.Trensil malware as soon as possible.

Android's increasingly large app marketplace carries thousands of useless and admittedly highly useful apps, and just like Apple's app store, it is generally prone to dodgy apps made by people with the sole purpose of stealing valuable user data from yourself.

The latest 'dogy' app spree has come from apps submitted by 3 users which have malicious code in them, this code has now been identified as malware by Google themselves. Google have therefore taken action to remove these apps, however have disclosed that anybody who has downloaded these apps could have already been the target of their sensitive data being stolen.

The Malware in question was called 'DroidDream', and acted a little bit like a trojan under cover. It collectively gathered information on a users daily activity, focused on the most highly used, and then calculated inputs in order to gain access to Android users sensitive data.

What this means is that you could already be infected with malware or you may not, all of this depends on whether you have downloaded any of these (now removed by Google) apps from the Android marketplace; Falling Down , Super Guitar Solo , Super History Eraser , Photo Editor , Super Ringtone Maker , Super Sex Positions , Hot Sexy Videos , Chess , Screaming Sexy Japanese Girls , Falling Ball Dodge , Scientific Calculator , Dice Roller , Advanced Currency Converter , APP Uninstaller , Funny Paint and Spider Man.

Amongst these apps removed there were also pirated apps of legitimate versions removed by Google all of which were made in China. Apparently Google will try and track down the source of these app scamsters, and they already know of their user names, however location and actual ID will be a far more complicated process.

What should you do?

If you have downloaded any of the apps mentioned above then you could almost certainly be infected, and your Android Phones could be carrying malicious hidden code. The first step naturally you should do is remove the app completely from your Android Phone, and if you can reboot your handset from a previously saved back up (which would need to be recent if you store phone numbers and download music or apps daily).

The second thing to do is after you have restored your phone from back up, then hard reset the handset from the off position to return the original functions status.

After this, you will probably have got rid of any remaining malicious code which could harm you. I recommend be very wary of what apps you download in the future, and to always download from highly reputable authors and companies alike. A top give away for scamster app submitters are that they have digits at the end of their name that correspond to nothing, such as 3322001910.

WordPress is now the most popular website management software, currently powering more than 70 million websites worldwide. Software by it's very nature is something that needs to be maintained, as new updates and patches become available. WordPress has been freely available since 2004 to create a website with, and versions remain online from 1.x to the most current (3.3.2).

From the very first version of WordPress, to the latest, there have been hundreds of updates available – some of which patch very big security holes. Over the last few years the term "malware" has been used in conjunction with WordPress websites that have been compromised (hacked) through one of these security holes. While malware is typically a term to describe a virus with a payload on a PC, the term is now more often used to describe a (WordPress) website that's been infected with SEO spam, or malicious scripts or code.

The best prevention for malware in WordPress is simply keeping it up to date. As new releases become available, perform the upgrade as soon as possible. In addition, also be sure that your installed theme and plugins are up to date as well.

Tips for Malware Prevention

While updating WordPress is great preventative medicine there are multiple additional things that you can do to further protect your website:

Remove old plugins: Be sure to remove any plugins that you aren't using (that are deactivated). Even unused plugins can be a security risk. Also, be sure to only leave installed plugins that have had an update within the last 12-18 months. If you're using plugins older than that, they may not be compatible with the latest version (s) of WordPress (or your theme) – and they could have security holes as well.

Review your theme: How old is your WordPress theme? If you purchased it from a developer, check and see if there is a recent update available for you to install. If you have a custom theme (or even one you coded yourself), be sure to have it reviewed by a competent developer or security expert about once per year to ensure it doesn't have security holes.

Security and Hardening: You should install and configure one or more popular WordPress plugins to secure and harden your website (beyond the 'out of the box' setup). While WordPress is a very mature and secure platform, you can easily add multiple additional layers of basic security by changing your admin username, the default WordPress table name, and security against 404 attacks and long malicious URL attempts.

Tips for Malware Removal

If you think your WordPress website has been hacked or injected with malware, malicious scripts, spam links, or code, the first thing you should do get a backup copy of your website (if you don't already have one). Get a copy of all files in your webhosting account downloaded to your local computer, as well as a copy of your database.

Next install one of the many free malware scanner plugins in the WordPress official free plugin repository. Activate it, and see if you can find the source of the infection. If you're a technical person, you might be able to remove the code or scripts on your own. Be sure to check all your theme files, and you might also need to reinstall WordPress.

If your WordPress core files are infected one of the best ways to remove the source of the infection is to delete the entire wp-admin and wp-includes folders (and contents) as well as all files in the root of your website. Inside the wp-content folder delete both the themes and plugins folders (keeping the uploads, which has attachments and images you've uploaded). Since you have a local copy of your website, you can reinstall the theme and you know what plugins were installed.

The best thing to do at this point is to download a fresh copy of WordPress and install it. Use the local copy of the wp-config.php file to connect to your existing database. Once you've done this, before reinstalling your theme and plugins you might want to login one time to your wp-admin dashboard and go to "Tools-> export" and export and entire copy of all your content, comments, tags, categories , and authors. Now (if you want) at this point you could drop the entire database, create a new one, and import all your content so you'd have a completely fresh copy of both WordPress and a new database. Then last, reinstall your theme and fresh copies of all plugins from the official WordPress repository (don't use the local copies you downloaded).

If these steps are too technical for you, or if it didn't remove the source of the infection, you might need to enlist the help of a WordPress security expert.

Preventive Maintenance Moving Forward

If your website is important to you, or if you use it for business – it's important that you protect it as if it were your physical business. Would would happen if your website were down or out of commission tomorrow? Would it hurt your business? A little preventative medicine goes a long way:

Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan: Make sure you have a working and tested backup solution in place (this is what most businesses would call a disaster recovery plan). There are many free and paid plugins and solutions to accomplish this for a WordPress website.

Install Basic Security: If you don't have a WordPress security plugin installed, get a highly rated and recently updated one from the official free plugin repository today to protect your website. If you aren't comfortable doing this on your own or don't have a technical website person, then hire a WordPress consultant or security expert to do it for you.