A computer VIRUS, an acronym meaning Vital Information Resource Under Seize, has the ability to damage your files, slow down your computer and/or collect data.  Most of the time VIRUSes are executable files designed to look like regular system files to avoid detection by the average user.

What do you do if you think you have a VIRUS?  Don’t panic!  Shut your computer down normally.  Unplugging a computer or causing an unexpected shut down can damage your computer’s software and hardware.  If you think your bank account or credit cards have been compromised notify the correct institutions to check for any unauthorized transactions and/or have accounts canceled or changed.

Finally, get to us ASAP!  Waiting will only increase the chance of the VIRUS damaging important files and documents or propagating to other computers on your network.  In the event of severe infections a hard drive will have to be formatted to ensure removal.  In these cases we will attempt to recover your data, and although we are very successful, there are the extreme cases where a drive will need to be sent to a forensics lab to be recovered.