Malware Removal Tools & Methods

What is the main tool to try to remediate an infected system?

antivirus software

What might you need to do if the antivirus software did not detect the virus in the first place?

use a different suite

What should be done before proceeding with antivirus remediation?

make sure the antivirus software is fully updated

What may be necessary if the infected system cannot be updated or scanned properly?

remove the disk and scan it from a different system

How are the terms antivirus and anti-malware described?

synonymous

What broad range of threats does almost every antivirus product protect against?

viruses, worms, fileless malware, Trojans, rootkits, ransomware, spyware, and cryptominer threats

What can antivirus software try to do with an infected file?

remove the infection, quarantine the file, or erase the file

What does quarantining a file mean in antivirus software?

the antivirus software blocks any attempt to open it

When might you choose to ignore a reported threat?

if it is a false positive

What can you configure about antivirus behavior during a scan?

the default action the software should attempt when it discovers malware

What might advanced malware infection require beyond antivirus scanning?

manual removal steps to disable persistence mechanisms and reconfiguration of the system to its secure baseline

What tool can be used to terminate suspicious processes?

Task Manager

What can be used to manually remove registry items?

regedit

What can msconfig be used for during malware recovery?

perform a safe boot or boot into Safe Mode

Why use Safe Mode during malware recovery?

hopefully preventing any infected code from running at startup

What clean recovery environment can be used from product disc or recovery media?

the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE)

What precaution should be taken when scanning a removed disk from another system?

taking care not to allow cross-infection

When might a complete system restore be necessary?

if malware gains a persistent foothold on the computer or you might not be able to run antivirus software

What does a complete system restore involve?

reformatting the disk, reinstalling the OS and software, and restoring data files from a clean backup

Will antivirus software necessarily recover data from infected files?

no