LAB Assignment: Scanning for Malware

Malicious Software, referred to as malware, is a program written by a person to perform some type of illegal activity on another computer. The person who creates malware is referred to as a hacker. Hackers send malware to other computers over a network-usually the Internet.

The purpose of this assignment is to prevent you from being a victim of a malware attack by helping you learn about malware and how it can get installed on your computer.

NOTE: Depending on the size of your hard drive and the number of files, this exercise could take half an hour to several hours to complete.

Instructions:

- Create a Word document and name it YourLastName Scan Results
- Completeness of your answers as well as quality, spelling and grammar are part of your score.
- When you have finished, save and close your Word document and submit your file at the class Web site.
- Evaluation will be based on:

Word document, screen print (step 5 & 6), answers to questions in step 10.

Part 1: Scanning for Malware

1) The most common type of malware is a virus. Every computer that connects to the Internet should have antivirus software installed on it. If your computer has an antivirus program, you can use it for this assignment.
If your computer has an antivirus program skip to step 4.

2) If your computer does not have an antivirus program, you will need to download a free antivirus program from the Internet. Some popular options include AVG, Avast and Microsoft Security Essentials.

Note: if you have a Macintosh computer, you will need to download a program that is Macintosh compatible.

3) Using Google, type "free antivirus program" into the search box. Click on the link to the antivirus program you want to download and then follow the instructions from the Web site to download and install the antivirus program you have chosen to your computer.

4) Using the antivirus program installed on your computer perform a virus scan. Some scanner programs give you the option of performing a "Quick Scan" or "Full Scan". A quick scan, which normally takes a few minutes, is not as thorough as a full scan. A full scan scans your entire hard drive in an attempt to identify any malware that may be on your computer. For this assignment you are to perform a full scan. Depending upon how much data you have on your hard drive, a full scan may take between 1-6 hours.

5) When the scanner is finished it will display a report listing the malware it found on your computer. Make a screen print of this report (even if the scanner found no malware). Ensure the results window is maximized (fills the monitor window).

To copy an image of your computer screen press the ALT + Print Screen keys at the same time. NOTE: If you have a Macintosh computer, you will need to find out how to perform a screen print on your computer.

6) Open a word processing document. Type your name in the top left corner of the document. Space down two lines and then copy the screen image from step 5 to that document (paste). Make sure the screen image is large enough that the instructor can read the scan results (including the names of any malware that was found). << Click and drag the image until it fills a page of the Word document.

7) Once the image has been pasted into the Word document, press Enter a couple of times.

8) Name the document "YourLastName Scan Results".

9) Follow the antivirus program instructions to delete the identified malware from your computer.

Part 2: Learning about malware

10) Use information provided in chapter 9 and on the Internet to answer the below questions. Type the question number and your answer under the screen image on the document you created in step 6.

1) What is a virus?
2) List two symptoms that may indicate that your computer has a virus
3) List two ways that viruses get installed on computers
4) List two ways to protect your computer from getting a virus
5) A virus is one type of malware. Name and explain/describe three other types of malware.