Symptoms of Malware Infection

The following are some primary indicators that a computer may be infected.

The computer runs slower than usual.

Slow network connection
The computer stops responding, or it locks up frequently.
The computer crashes, and then it restarts every few minutes.
Disks or disk drives are inaccessible.
You cannot print items correctly.
Annoying message or unusual error message display
You see distorted menus and dialog boxes.
There is a double extension on an attachment that you recently opened, such as a .jpg, .vbs, .gif,
or .exe extension.
An antivirus program is disabled for no reason. Additionally, the antivirus program cannot be
restarted.
An antivirus program cannot be installed on the computer, or the antivirus program will not run.
New icons appear on the desktop that you did not put there, or the icons are not associated with
any recently installed programs.
Strange sounds or music plays from the speakers unexpectedly.
A program disappears from the computer even though you did not intentionally remove the
program.
Applications on the computer do not work correctly.
You receive out-of-memory error messages even though the computer has sufficient RAM.
New programs are installed incorrectly.
Programs that used to run stop responding frequently. Even if you remove and reinstall the
programs, the issue continues to occur.
A disk utility such as Scandisk reports multiple serious disk errors.
A partition disappears.

Tel: +251-11-371-71 14 P.O. Box: 124498 E-mail: siteadmin@insa.gov.et

Fax: +251-11-320 65 76 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Website: www.insa.gov.et
 ‘Autorun.inf’ appears in removable media.

Change made on registry and startup

Changes on system configuration to hide themselves

 Disable task manager

Tel: +251-11-371-71 14 P.O. Box: 124498 E-mail: siteadmin@insa.gov.et

Fax: +251-11-320 65 76 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Website: www.insa.gov.et
  Disable run utility

 Disable folder options (in explorer)

These are common signs of infection. However, these signs may also be caused by hardware or software problems
that have nothing to do with a malware. Use up-to-date and efficient antivirus software to be certain whether a
computer is infected with a malware or not.

Tel: +251-11-371-71 14 P.O. Box: 124498 E-mail: siteadmin@insa.gov.et

Fax: +251-11-320 65 76 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Website: www.insa.gov.et
If you are sure that you are infected by a malware follow these don’ts until the malware is removed.
 Don't e-mail attachments to anyone to stop the spread of the malware to someone else.
 Don't plug in a USB drive or copy files. Some viruses can automatically copy themselves to a
USB drive. The next time the infected drive is plugged into a computer, the virus will auto run,
allowing it to spread to the new machine.
 Don't log into any personal accounts such as e-mail and other accounts that contain personal and
potentially sensitive data. If your PC is infected, your passwords and other login information are
vulnerable to theft by the malware.
 Don't enter credit card or banking information online.

Tel: +251-11-371-71 14 P.O. Box: 124498 E-mail: siteadmin@insa.gov.et

Fax: +251-11-320 65 76 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Website: www.insa.gov.et