CHAPTER 2. IF YOUR
COMPUTER IS INFECTED…
Sometimes it is not always apparent, even to a knowledgeable user, that a
computer is infected with a virus or a Trojan, because these programs mask their
presence among useful files. This chapter describes in detail how to recognize
the infection, restore data after a virus attack, and prevent malicious programs
from getting onto your computer.
2.1. Symptoms of infection
There are a number of common symptoms which indicate that your computer
has been infected. If you have noticed one of the following symptoms, a virus
has probably infected your computer:
•
Unexpected messages or images are suddenly displayed.
•
Unusual sounds or music is played at random times.
•
Your CD-ROM drawer mysteriously opens and closes.
•
Programs are suddenly launched on your computer.
•
If Kaspersky Anti-Hacker is installed on your computer, you receive notifi-
cations about attempts of some programs to connect to the Internet with-
out your permission.
In addition, there are other typical symptoms indicating that your computer has
been infected via e-mail:
•
You receive notifications that the message you sent contained a virus but
the anti-virus program of the recipient declined your message, whereas in
reality, you did not send this message or are sure that the message was
free of viruses.
•
Your contacts receive messages from your address that you did not send.
•
Your mailbox contains many messages without the sender’s address and
the header.
Note that these problems are not necessarily symptoms of virus-like activities.
They can have other causes. For example, infected messages from your address
can be sent from another computer.
