I was using my laptop at a library when the IT staff alerted me that their firewall detected malware on my device. They warned it might be sending data elsewhere regularly and recommended that I install malware protection since I only had Windows Defender installed and hadn't run any scans in a while. Following their advice, I ran multiple scans with Windows Defender, Malwarebytes, and Bitdefender, but none of them found any threats. This is quite concerning, given the IT guy's alarming description. I'd appreciate any insights or advice on this situation since I'm not very tech-savvy.
2 Answers
The librarian could have been misinformed. I recommend downloading the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, running it in safe mode. If that doesn’t pick up anything, try installing a good firewall and see what it flags. And for now, avoid any banking transactions on that laptop.
If you scanned with Malwarebytes and it didn’t find anything, you’re probably okay. Did the IT guy suggest anything else besides those antivirus programs? If he did, he might have been trying to install something shady. But if he didn’t push anything else on you, he may have just been mistaken.
No, he only told me to install Bitdefender, and that seemed legit. He was in a uniform and everything, so I assume he worked there.
Thanks for the tip! Do you have a recommendation for a firewall?