Ever since the start of this year, I have noticed an increase in the amount of viruses, trojans and malware that has infected my computer. It seems to have increased at least 50%. Now, I keep my antivirus software (Avira) up to date, SpySweeper (which I have found to be basically useless now), Malwarebytes (likewise after initially showing promise) and Super AntiSpyware are all kept up to date. But, it seems almost a never ending battle. Virtumonde is the most prevalent virus I have noticed. You will be surfing along with your browser of choice (Firefox in my case) and suddenly you start getting a page that is sweeping your computer for spyware. The only thing, it is a fake. They will say your computer is infected with a certain virus or spyware and you need to pay for their antispyware program for only $59.95. If you do that, they have your name and credit card number. Then you face a nightmare. It took me three days to get rid of Vitumonde the first time. Now, all I do is go into safe mode and run a-squared antispyware. It always gets rid of it.

But, the worst virus/trojan I have experienced to date was the "Google Redirect" virus. It would redirect you each time you went to Google, to a different web site. The sites were usually something that are porn or an invitation to buy some worthless junk (they really want the credit card number). It took me a month to get rid of it. I was about to format my HD and reinstall Windows when I found the one program that would get rid of the Google Redirect. The name of it is, "ESET Antivirus Online Scan." It is a free scan and removal tool to get rid of the Google Redirect. It was the only thing I tried that actually worked. I tried with many security experts (online) who basically just gave up. I ran it one time and it took care of this particular virus.

But, back to my point...it appears that all the antispyware, antivirus programs are falling behind the hackers who develop all these computer infections that wreak havoc. It is something I have noticed for this entire year. If your computer is performing slowly, refusing to reboot, or your browser starts taking you to a different site than what you wanted, you might want to update all your antivirus and antispyware programs. The malware onslaught appears to be gaining strength throughout the internet.