Updated on: July 19, 2024
Short on time? Here’s how to remove the URL:MAL virus in 2024:
- Scan Your Computer. Choose a quality antivirus like Norton to run a full system scan on your device.
- Remove the URL:MAL Virus. Once it’s finished scanning your device, let the antivirus safely remove all instances of the URL:MAL virus and any other malware.
- Keep Your Computer Safe. By investing in a premium internet security package like Norton, you can protect yourself against further infections. Norton offers perfect malware detection and removal, great real-time protection, anti-phishing, a VPN, and much more. You can try it with a generous 60-day money-back guarantee.
URL:MAL (short for URL:Malicious) is a generic threat name that AVG and Avast use when they block access to a malicious website. If you only see this when you’re trying to access unsafe websites, it’s a good sign your antivirus is working.
However, if the URL:MAL notification appears without you clicking on any suspicious links, your PC is probably infected with a malware file. The file is trying to access an unsafe URL without your permission, which could happen for a variety of reasons. For example, cryptojackers need a connection to mine crypto on your device, and adware and spyware share your browsing information with hackers. Rootkits can even give hackers remote access to your computer.
If the URL:MAL pop-up appears often, you should run a full system scan on your computer to check for and remove any potential infections. It’s also a good idea to run a full system scan just in case, even if you’ve only seen the URL:MAL notification once.
Although AVG and Avast are decent antiviruses, there are better antivirus options out there. If you’re trying to clean up your device and stay protected, you should consider replacing Avast or AVG with another premium antivirus like Norton.
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Step 1. Identify the URL:MAL Virus With Your Antivirus
If you suspect your computer is infected, remove any storage devices in your USB or SD card slots. This includes cell phones, portable hard drives, music devices, and even eBook readers. Malware can easily spread to these devices through your infected computer and then spread to other computers that you plug the storage device into.
If you’ve decided to change your security suite, you should uninstall AVG or Avast next. Then it’s time to install your new antivirus software. Personally, I recommend Norton, but if you just want a free scanner to check for viruses, then
Multiple antiviruses may interfere with one another and return unreliable results, so make sure to uninstall (or disable) Avast and AVG before running a full disk scan.
The full disk scan will go through your whole computer, detecting and quarantining any malicious files. This should include whatever file may be trying to access a malicious URL and causing the URL:MAL warning to appear.
Remember, your antivirus needs to check every file on your computer, so the full disk scan may take a few hours to complete. You may want to schedule the scan for when you’re not using your computer, because some scanners can impact system performance. Whatever you do, don’t end the scan early. The antivirus needs to check your entire system, and there’s no way of knowing how much malware is on your computer without letting the scan complete.
When the scan is finished, you’ll get a list of threats that have been quarantined by your antivirus. Your next job is to go through each of these threats and remove any unsafe files, including whatever is causing the URL:MAL notification to appear.
Note: If the virus scan results show no threats, you can assume the URL:MAL warning is a false positive notification, or you clicked a dangerous link.
Step 2. Remove the URL:MAL Infection and Delete Any Other Infected Files
Now that the virus scan is finished, you need to remove any files that your antivirus quarantined. Advanced users will be able to determine which files are dangerous, and which ones are false positives (harmless files that the antivirus mistakes for malware). However, most users will not know how to identify a false positive. If you’re unclear, contact your antivirus program’s support team.
Once you’ve erased every malware file, you should restart your PC to terminate any viruses that may have been running in your system’s memory. Once this is done, it’s a good idea to run a second full disk scan to ensure all traces of infected files are gone. Luckily, smart scanners like Norton use file caching to recognize files they’ve recently scanned, so the second scan will be much quicker than the first.
If the second disk scan still shows infected files, you need to repeat steps 1 and 2. If your antivirus isn’t effectively removing the malware from your system, you should consider using a different antivirus program.
Once you’ve reviewed and deleted all the compromised files, you can be confident that all malware has been successfully removed from your system. However, that doesn’t mean your computer is safe from future attacks. It’s really easy to get infected by malware, and you should take the necessary precautions to keep your computer safe.
Step 3. Keep Your Device Protected From Other Malware
Every day, more and more threats are emerging online and infecting people’s computers. However, avoiding these threats is really easy so long as you have the necessary precautions in place.
- Keep Your OS, Software, and Drivers Up-To-Date: Most software updates contain security patches that fix vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers. If your software, OS, and drivers are out-of-date, you are exposed to exploit attacks. Keeping everything on your device up-to-date is therefore essential. Many antiviruses (such as Avira) include vulnerability scanners that scan drivers and applications for updates and flag out-of-date files.
- Avoid Downloading Dangerous Files: Never download files that you don’t recognize, whether from trusted or untrustworthy websites. If a file seems way too big or too small for what it purports to be, that’s a huge red flag. You should also look at the file extension (a movie should not be a .exe file, for example). All this applies to email attachments as well — even if you trust the sender, if you receive an unexpected attachment from them you should ask if they intended to send it.
- Secure Your Wireless Network and IoT Devices: Malware can spread from one device to another, so securing your home network is key. Protect it with a strong password. Make sure all of your Internet of Things (IoT) devices are also fully updated and protected by strong passwords. You can use a password manager such as 1Password to make this much easier.
- Use an Effective Antivirus Program: The best way to keep yourself safe online is to download a secure antivirus program. The best antiviruses offer advanced malware protection and they come with some cool extra features. A good antivirus like Norton can make sure your system is up to date, stop sketchy files from affecting your system, and more. Some even come bundled with password managers.
3 Best Antivirus Programs for Removing URL:MAL Virus
Quick summary of the best antiviruses for removing URL:MAL virus:
- 🥇 1. Norton 360 — Best overall antivirus suite for getting rid of all malware, including the URL:MAL virus.
- 🥈 2. Bitdefender — Powerful cloud-based malware scanner that effectively removes the URL:MAL virus.
- 🥉 3. TotalAV — Removes all malware (including URL:MAL) + extremely user-friendly interface.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if a URL is malicious?
It’s difficult to check whether a URL is malicious just by looking at it. The lock icon in the address bar of browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Edge tells you whether a site is using a secure HTTPS connection. However, there are tons of legitimate sites that haven’t upgraded to HTTPS yet.
Therefore, you need an internet security suite with good web protections that will stop you from accessing malicious URLs entirely. Failing that, you can check if a website is safe using trusted services such as Norton’s Safe Web. These services allow you to enter a URL and find out whether it’s been used in malware or phishing attacks.
What is URL malware?
URL malware isn’t malware itself — it’s usually a malicious link that contains exploit attacks, malware, or other unwanted files. A good antivirus with web protection can protect you from malicious links. However, you should also regularly scan your PC following our steps above to ensure malware files on your device aren’t connecting to unsafe URLs.
What do I do if I click a malicious link?
If you clicked on a malicious link and it wasn’t blocked by your antivirus provider, consider using one of our top solutions instead. If you don’t use an antivirus, you need to download one with decent web protection that will keep you safe from clicking malicious links in future. You should then scan your PC using our steps above to ensure you haven’t received any virus infections from clicking on the malicious link.
