In this world of computers, technology, and the internet where information flows all around us there exist two types of people: surfers and sharks.
These are dangerous waters. Just last year there were 2.6 million threats in the form of Trojan and other viruses sent out all over the internet. How are we to keep safe when most of us do not even know what a virus looks like, and what is more, how to stop one.
The answer is in the password. There are many different techniques to stop hackers from getting into your computer, this one is crucial to prevention.
You might be asking: ?Why do I need to change my password??
First, let?s take a look at just what a malicious attacker can do with your password.
Recently a hacker masquerading as your friend Bob sent you an email asking for help with money or some other problem and to help him all he requires is your sensitive personal information. Hacker skills are vast in finding ways into your friend Bob?s email account. One way is through malicious software that simply records the information as he types it in, like taking candy from a Bob the hackers now have his sign-in data and can use that for whatever they wish.
Poor Bob did not change his password, left it at boob69, and now has to answer to a friend who lost a thousand dollars because he thought Bob was in trouble from an email he sent. This can happen to anyone.
Sometimes all it takes for a hacker to get your password is to guess. “You use a password that’s easy to guess, like your first or last name plus your birth date (‘Laura1968’), or you provide an answer to a secret question that’s common and therefore easy to guess, like ‘pizza’ for ‘What is your favorite food?,'” wrote Priya Navak, Google?s online operations strategist. Be creative with your password.
Gmail is a common target along with Hotmail, Yahoo, and social networking site Facebook for sharks to base their attack on surfers? privacy.
There is so much information out there it is easy for hackers to grab whatever they want simply by reaching out there hand. To put this in perspective, 247 billion emails are sent out per day, 81% of which are spam emails. That means that every day there are about 200 billion attempts at scams, viruses, and other malicious attacks on you.
This happened to me, and I almost cashed a check written out to me from a businessman who actually used a job finding website to mask as an employer. He wanted me to send him via email my name, address, email address, and my age. It seemed like harmless info, so I obliged, not knowing that this ?employer? was a scammer who wanted me to cash a bad check.
Now you might be asking: ?How do I protect myself from these bad people?? Answer: Change your password twice a year and never reuse the same one.
Here are some other ways to protect you in the computer world.
1)????? Watch out for messages that ask for your username and/or password. Secure sites will not ask you for this information.
2)????? Never give out your password if you opened a link that you think is trusted on an email. Hackers are crafty little crackers; they can disguise a trusted site like Amazon or Google and have your information easy.
3)????? Always sign-out when you are finished using your email. Don?t leave the door open for hackers and viruses to get in.
There are also some good, free programs like LastPass and Keepass to help with protection. Don’t get bit by a computer shark while surfing the net!
About two months ago, I got my first Facebook phishing email. It asked me to click a link so that I can change my Facebook password. You know, for my ?security?.
Well, this one was an immediate red flag to me for the following reasons:
1)?? I?m not an active Facebook member at all and the email address that was used to send me the message was an account I was SURE I had not used for opening a Facebook account.
2)?? The message style of the email was very unprofessional. It said this:
Dear user of facebook,
Because of the measures taken to provide safety to our clients, your password has been changed. You can find your new password in attached document.
Thanks, Your Facebook.
First of all, ?Dear user of facebook?? Come on.
Plus, the fact that the word facebook was not properly written (Facebook) was another red flag.
3)?? Attachments are major red flags too. Even if it was only a link to change the password I would not immediately click it. So an attachment, something for me to download on my PC, is definitely a red flag.
It didn?t take long for my doubts to be proven true. Tons of articles online soon appeared stating that Facebook password reset confirmation emails were a fake. Good thing I didn?t download the attachment and have malicious software invade my PC!
If you get this email or other phishing messages, here are a few more of those ?red flags? you should be aware of.
If you are asked to provide passwords, personal information, or credit card details, be weary.
If you are addressed as ?dear user? instead of ?dear [your name]?. With the latter, it at least signifies that some time ago you may have signed up for their product or service (because they have your real name).
If the email is poorly written with many grammar errors, it?s probably a phishing email. This is because professional organizations will almost always take the time to craft professional looking messages to their users / subscribers.
As a way to AVOID getting phishing emails, ensure that your antivirus software is always updated. Most of the time, these malicious emails will have a word or two in them that will trigger your antivirus program to issue a warning message about the email or move the message altogether to your Junk or SPAM folder.
A few blog posts ago, I touched upon Microsoft Security Essentials’ recent accolades from AV-Comparatives, an anti-malware testing group that compares various anti-malware solutions and ranks them accordingly. As reported, Microsoft Security Essentials is one of just two anti-malware packages — the other being F-Secure Anti-Virus 2010 — that were rated “very fast” in every test category included in the company’s comparisons.
Adding to that initial honor, AV-Comparatives has also given Microsoft Security Essentials the award for the best performance of those programs tested.? Subjecting the competing anti-maleware solutions to a variety of tests derived from real-world scenarios — downloading, extracting, copying, encoding files, application launches, etc. — gave a? clear leader in Microsoft Security Essentials.
What became most noticeable was how little Microsoft Security Essentials demanded of a system’s resources, contributing to AV-Comparative’s decision to rank it as the best-performing anti-malware solution that you can get for free. Brisk performance in every major category, while being light on resources, is reason enough to give this highly recommended anti-malware program a look — particularly when you taking into consideration that it’s free, outpacing those solutions that cost money.
Proving its mettle against the competition, Microsoft Security Essentials is a great tool to protect your computer with.
If you use either Symantec Norton Anti-Virus 2010 or McAfee Virus Scan Plus 2010, you might be interested in knowing that a recent report by AV-Comparatives — an Austrian non-profit that assesses differences between anti-virus software, informing the public of their findings — concludes that Microsoft Security Essentials runs faster than the two aforementioned competitors.
Still, Microsoft Security Essentials placed 6th overall amongst 16 products tested by the firm. Coming in at the 8 spot was Symantec Norton Anti-Virus 2010, while McAfee VirusScan Plus 2010 came in 10th place. Microsoft Security Essentials was rated “very fast” in every test category, with just one other anti-virus program — F-Secure Anti-Virus 2010 — qualifiying for the “very fast” honor in every test category.
This is of particular significance for those of you looking to install a security solution that doesn’t hinder the performance of your computer, a problem that persists with many anti-virus programs.
Microsoft Security Essentials has received high marks for its relative lack of bloat and fast performance. More enticing, Microsoft Security Essentials is free, making it the superior alternative to anti-virus solutions that are both costly and less efficient.
If you?re a user of Avast, the popular anti-virus program developed by ALWIL software, you should know that a recent definition update (those routine downloads that keep the virus definitions of your anti-virus software current) tagged hundreds of valid files as security threats.
The company promptly responded to the error, summarily releasing a fix just hours later. However, users are still burdened with the task of reinstalling those legitimate files.
Aiding in that effort, Avast has an easy to follow guide that walks you through the process of recovering files incorrectly tagged as threats.
In the event you?re using Avast 5 beta ?or Avast 4.8, this solution may not be effective, requiring that you run a fresh reinstall of programs to which the tagged files are linked.
That?s certainly a frustrating solution, one that some users may have no choice but to use. ?To date, there is no single solution that works for every user. So, read the instructions provided by Avast. If that works, great — but you may have to reinstall the program if their solution fails to deliver.
If you?re an Avast user and you suspect this bungled update has affected the performance of your computer, call our office. Computer Geeks is always here to assist you.
Many of our customers know how high our opinion of AVG is. This award-winning anti-virus and security software is one of the most effective countermeasures to the always looming threat of malware that stalks the internet during your jaunts through its halls. Previously, it came in two versions, the professional version and a free trial version that eventually requires you to upgrade after prolonged use.
If you?re someone familiar with the trial version, you know all too well how frustrating it was to boot up your computer and find that you were no longer able to use its services. While the professional version is a more robust version, offering real-time protection where the trial version placed the onus on you to run the scans, none of us frown upon those things which are free.
Well, AVG is now offering their latest update to the free package ? version 9.0 ? to the public for as many uses as they choose.
Yes, that?s right.
No matter how long you have this version, or how many times you use it, AVG Free 9.0 is yours forever. You won?t be prompted to upgrade to the professional version ? ever. It?s completely free, available for unlimited use, and just as powerful as the previous iterations of what was once the ?trial? version.
Of course, as was the case before, the free version will still not offer real-time protection. The benefit of real-time protection is knowing that you?re always secure, no matter what you?re doing, the AVG protection steeling you against malware threats while running in the background.
However, for those of you are vigilant and pro-active when tending to the security of your computers, this is as good as it gets.
