JEREMY LUBIN: Hi.
I'm Jeremy, a consumer experience
specialist at Google.
Today I'm going to talk to you about malicious software, also
known as malware, and how you can protect your
computer from infection.
First, let's talk about how you get malware.
Malware is often installed on your computer without your
knowledge when you visit certain websites.
Sometimes these are good sites that have been compromised by
malware creators, and other times, they're simply bad
sites built to distribute malicious software.
Malware may also be installed when you download a file that
appears to be legitimate, but is actually doing things that
you didn't want or expect it to do.
Malware has been known to do things like delete data on
your computer, steal personal information such as credit
card numbers and passwords, send spam email, or even
attack other networks and computers.
One of the most common symptoms of malware that our
users report is being taken to an unexpected site after
clicking on a search result.
These sites are often spammy.
But malware can also cause pop-ups, unwanted tool bars,
and other strange behavior.
To avoid malware from infecting your computer in the
first place, it's a good idea to follow a few general
guidelines.
First, upgrade your operating system and all of your
software to the latest versions.
Check for new versions regularly, and if possible,
turn on automatic updates.
Be careful not to click on links that you don't know the
destination of or download files from a source that you
don't trust. Similarly, before you download email attachments
or click links in an email, make sure
you trust the sender.
And finally, make sure that you're running up-to-date
antivirus software.
If you think you've already got malware, you can usually
also use antivirus software to detect and remove it.
There are a number of programs that can remove the most
common malware, although you may need to try more than one
to catch every instance on your computer.
And again, remember to keep all of your antivirus software
up to date.
If you do find a site in our search results that installs
unwanted programs on your computer or redirects you
somewhere that you did not intend to go,
please let us know.
Your report will help us improve the quality of our
search results.
To learn more about malware, please visit our help center.
Thanks, and safe browsing.