As the year is coming to a close it is time again to tell which are the worse computer viruses of 2015 and why.
I guess each and every person who has been hit with a computer virus of some sort will have their own opinion of which virus is worse and why.
For me personally the worst virus is the one which takes money from your bank account. And although it is not the virus that is doing that, it is a person, they use computer viruses as their tools to steal from you.
Business might have a different opinion. I saw many viruses this year creep into peoples business machine through email or being tricked and delete all their important files from finance to emails.
Again it is very important to backup, we all know it, but very few of us actually do it. If you have a virus on your computer and you loose everything, if you have a backup it can be restored either onto the same machine or a new one.
Ransomware
I’m sure there is data out there to prove otherwise, but form what we saw in 2015 in Townsville, Ransomware was the most prevalent and costly.
Ransomware does exactly what it sounds like; holds your computer to ransom.
Thieves who infect your computer with ransomware usually provide a phone number or bank account for you to send them money, usually $100s before they will release your computer and data.
Most times once this has been paid your computer is not released and your credit card is maxed out on purchased shared all over the world by criminals. It is a very bad idea to give your credit card details to thieves!
Although this was not the most prevalent virus on peoples computers in 2015 it was surely the most costly with some small businesses loosing years of work, customers and invoices etc.
Spyware: Fake Antivirus (Rogue Security Software)
Overall fake antivirus programs on home and business computers are what we saw most of in 2015.
Programs which people accidentally or are tricked into downloading and are mistaken as authentic, real antivirus protection.
These programs look so real almost nobody is able to tell and they sit on peoples computers for months or years stealing information like bank account user names and passwords.
Its only when these programs start sending advertisements and popups start hindering the computer do people wise up and give us a call.
A big problem with files like this being on your computer for so long is when you restore a backup on a new system free of viruses you may be also installing a backed up version of the virus also.
The fake antivirus we saw most this year is called Personal Antivirus and i have added a picture above. If your antivirus looks like this call Townsville Nerds on 0402 807 890 today!