‘Palida’ Font Tells You if You’ve Got Gauss and Other Telltale Signs that Your PC’s Infected

Gauss is the latest state-sponsored Trojan that's currently making the rounds, and it's causing quite a number of users to throw a virtual hissy fit. Not to worry though, because security geeks and researchers everywhere are rushing to assure everyone that their anti-virus scanners and programs can detect any traces of the threat.

However, it turns out that there's another way to figure out if you've got Gauss or not, and it doesn't require any scans whatsoever. Instead, all you have to do is check if the font called Palida Narrow is installed on your system.

It seems like one thing the Trojan does is install this font, and if your computer has Palida, then it's also got Gauss. That's according to the experts over at Kaspersky. But if you insist on going about it the traditional way, which is by using a scanning tool, then you can get the one by CrySyS available here.

On a related note, there are also a bunch of other things that can serve as indicators of the presence of Trojans, viruses, or malware on your computer. Here are a couple of them:

• Shortcuts appear. If weird or unknown shortcuts suddenly appear on your Desktop, then you're in trouble.
• Programs stop working. If some programs that used to work perfectly suddenly stop working, then that might be a sign of a Trojan (or a sign that you need to get a new computer.)
• Browser redirects. If you enter 'Egotastic.com' and get redirected to a site selling steroids, then you know it's time to do an anti-virus scan.
• Google redirects. Or you could be trying to search for 'busty pictures of Jordana Brewster.' But the moment you click on that link at the top of the search results, you get redirected to site selling Hugh Hefner's favorite blue pills. Again, it's time to get checked.
• Pop ups go nuts. If pop up windows suddenly keep popping up and you can't make them go away for the life of you, then it's time to call the Nerd Herd in.
• Mouse gets confused. If your cursor disappears or starts to move by itself, then it's time to get your computer checked. (No folks, it's not a ghost.)
• Powers on and powers off. If your computer turns on and off by itself, then the problem's serious and you need to rush it off to the computer hospital. (Again, it is not a ghost.)