Got Malware? Here’s How to Remove It

Your first thought might be that it’s time for an upgrade because you’ve had your device for a few years. However, the problem might not be the age. Rather, it’s infected with malware. We can help you get your device back by teaching you how to remove malware from your PC, iPhone, Android, and even your WordPress site.

How to remove malware from your PC. Don’t feel bad if you’ve fallen victim malware. Many malicious websites will pose as legitimate news sources or fun pop culture blogs—luring you in and leaving you with a computer virus. You can do a few things to help remove malware from your PC and restore its normal function.

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• Update your antivirus software. If malicious software has made it past your antivirus software, it likely needs to run an update. Sometimes running an update will refresh the software’s data, and it will be able to identify bugs that are running in the background of your operating system.
• Disconnect from the internet and re-scan. If updating your antivirus doesn’t solve your problem, you might need to disconnect from the internet. Not all malware operates independently. You could have a remote access trojan (RAT), where a hacker has remote access to your computer. If you feel this might be the case, disconnect from the internet by turning off your Wi-Fi and unplugging your ethernet cable. Run another virus scan to see if that takes care of the problem.
• Worst-case scenario: reformat your hard drive. If nothing else successfully removes malware from your PC, you might have to go with the worst-case scenario and reformat your hard drive. Reformatting is going to erase everything from your computer, so you’ll likely have to reinstall your operating system and everything else you use. While it’s a major inconvenience, reformatting is a small price for protecting your personal information and restoring your computer to its normal function.

How to remove malware from an iPhone. It doesn’t matter if you’re scrolling social media or playing games on your iPhone; you see ads for more games and other apps. Most of these apps are benign and pose no threat, regardless of how poorly designed they are. Although, an app might redirect you away from the App Store, where you download a third-party app that hasn’t been approved by Apple, which is where you could put your phone at risk. You can do a few things to save your phone and personal information.

• Clean up your app library. Go through your library and identify apps that have been downloaded from sources other than the App Store. It’s likely that one of these is causing the problems you’re dealing with on your phone. When deleting apps, it’s essential that you remove the app and all data along with it.
• Update iOS. Each iOS update comes with new security measures that are designed to protect your device and all the personal information you keep on it. One of the benefits of updating iOS to combat malware is that the app probably hasn’t been updated in a while and won’t be supported after the update. The code will stop running on your phone and can be effectively deleted with the app.
• Reset to a previous backup. One of the most effective ways to remove malware from your iPhone is restoring it back to a time when it wasn’t there. Plug your iPhone into your computer and reset it to a previous backup. If it’s been a while since you’ve backed up your phone, you’ll lose some apps, photos, messages, and other information you’ve acquired since then. The risk of downloading malware to your phone is real, so it’s a good idea to back up your phone periodically.

How to remove malware from an Android device. Android devices that use the Google Play Store are at a greater risk of downloading malware without going to third-party sites because apps aren’t as scrutinized before publication. Android users need to be vigilant in their use of the Google Play Store to ensure they don’t accidentally infect their devices. There are a few things Android users can do to restore their devices.

• Reboot in safe mode. Safe Mode essentially starts up your device using a skeleton crew of apps that run only what’s essential to operate. You can easily get into your app library without additional slowing or delayed functionality or malicious code slowing you down.
• Clean up your apps. Most malware for mobile devices is self-contained and won’t spread code through your operating system. A self-contained threat means that you can delete the app you believe is causing the problem, and it will go away with the app.
• Install a mobile antivirus app. If you’re still having problems with malware on your Android device, take the same approach you would with your PC and download antivirus software to scan for malware. Antivirus software will also effectively isolate and remove the threat.

How to remove malware from a WordPress site. WordPress is a popular destination for businesses and bloggers because it is easy to build a website with simplified coding. Hackers know this and can get into the code of your website and plant a virus. Removing malware from your site isn’t always easy, but you can follow these steps to ensure it’s removed.

1. Back up your site files.
2. Delete files in the public_html folder.
3. Reinstall WordPress.
4. Reinstall plugins.
5. Reinstall themes.

We recommend resetting your passwords as part of the recovery process. Protecting your devices from malware is important because they often hold the personal information hackers are looking for. You can keep that information safe by keeping an eye on the performance of your device and promptly removing potentially malicious software.