A virus is a type of malware — a harmful program created by hackers that can infect your computer or device in multiple ways. They can be incredibly difficult to get rid of and they can spread from device to device. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to protect your devices and we have some tips about how to remove a virus.
A virus can cause a number of problems on your infected device. It may quickly use all your computer's available memory — slowing down your system or bringing it to a halt. Viruses can damage data, destroy files, format hard drives, or make disks unreadable. A virus can enter your computer as an email attachment, in a downloaded file, or hidden on a zip drive or CD. It's usually not obvious that a virus is present on a website, in an email or elsewhere.
If you're experiencing any of these problems, your computer may have a virus:
There are some precautions you can take to keep your devices safe:
If you think your device is infected, your first step is to run a complete scan using your antivirus program.
If you are using CenturyLink Security by McAfee, there's no need to do anything extra. The program runs continuously and automatically quarantines any detected threats.
If your antivirus program is unable to remove the virus, these are your next steps:
If you think you have a virus, worm, Trojan horse or other unwanted invader on your computer, or if you are having other problems with your computer, we offer enhanced computer support services to help you.