These days the volume of Spam email is a significant portion of the email distributed online. These Spam emails consist mainly of people trying to promote products using your unsolicited email address as a sales tool but even more sinister people trying to defraud you of money. This is done via a series of emails designed to spoof you into entering key financial information and is growing in frequency all the time.

These emails are referred to as Phishing emails likened to catching a fish where you throw in the rod looking for a bite, in this case entering account numbers and passwords. This identity fraud can ruin you financially and can take you months or years to first prove you were not responsible and to try and recover some of the money stolen from you.

Legally your financial institution is not obliged to return any moneys to you as a victim of online fraud. Their terms and conditions usually state quite clearly that it is your responsibility to maintain the integrity of your username/account numbers as well as any password or pin numbers. So whilst online banking is very convenient the responsibility clearly sits with you in regards to security and privacy of your information.

These phishing emails are designed to collect your financial information and usually do so by copying the websites of your financial institution and pretending that you need to update your username, password, address etc. These sites are so convincing that it only takes a moments lapse in concentration to compromise your security and privacy. Your bank or financial institution would never ask you to update information via email. If you need to carry out a financial transaction do so by going directly to the website and not clicking on any email links.

So how can you prevent being tricked by these phishing emails ? Firstly if the email looks unprofessional with poor spelling and grammar you can assume it is Spam and delete the email. If it is a professional looking email with company logos and colors there is actually a simple way to check if the email you received is legitimate. Most email these days is delivered in HTML format which gives you richer emails with text and graphics.

Move the mouse over one of the hyperlinks and in the status bar of the browser or email client you will see the domain the link is really going to take you. If this is not the domain of your financial institution it’s Spam and delete the email. If it does match the correct domain complete a further check as follows. Somewhere in your email client or browser you should see a ‘View Source’ option. Select that and you will see the HTML code that composes the email.

Look for the link and make sure the address in the ‘href’ tag is a legitimate domain for your financial institution. Again remember emails from your financial institution you should click on are generally marketing, sales or new product information emails. Make sure you have anti-virus and anti-spyware applications installed on your computer to make sure you do not have spyware or malware that could be recording your account numbers and passwords.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/how-to-avoid-being-defrauded-by-phishing-emails-1515749.html

About the Author:

Joey Vella is an IT Consultant with over 20 years of IT and Project experience. Specialising in Windows platforms and system configurations. Joey consults to a number of companies including PCWinTools.com

If you’re connected to the Internet (especially with an “always on” connection such as cable or DSL), you’re at risk for intrusion from hackers or with infection from a virus or spyware. This can happen without your knowledge. You can be browsing, logging on and off various web sites, etc., and be compromised. However, you can protect yourself from this type of intrusion by following a few simple steps.

1.. Use a firewall to block all incoming connections from the Internet to services that should not be publicly available. By default, you should deny all incoming connections and only allow services you explicitly want to offer to the outside world.

2.. Enforce a password policy. Complex passwords make it difficult to crack password files on compromised computers. This helps to prevent or limit damage when a computer is compromised.
3.. Ensure that programs and users of the computer use the lowest level of privileges necessary to complete a task. When prompted for a root or UAC password, ensure that the program asking for administration-level access is a legitimate application.

4.. Disable AutoPlay to prevent the automatic launching of executable files on network and removable drives, and disconnect the drives when not required. If write access is not required, enable read-only mode if the option is available.

5.. Turn off file sharing if not needed. If file sharing is required, use ACLs and password protection to limit access. Disable anonymous access to shared folders. Grant access only to user accounts with strong passwords to folders that must be shared.

6.. Turn off and remove unnecessary services. By default, many operating systems install auxiliary services that are not critical. These services are avenues of attack. If they are removed, threats have less avenues of attack.

7.. If a threat exploits one or more network services, disable, or block access to, those services until a patch is applied.

8.. Configure your email server to block or remove email that contains file attachments that are commonly used to spread threats, such as .vbs, .bat, .exe, .pif and .scr files.

9.. Isolate compromised computers quickly to prevent threats from spreading further. Perform a forensic analysis and restore the computers using trusted media.

10.. Train employees not to open attachments unless they are expecting them. Also, do not execute software that is downloaded from the Internet unless it has been scanned for viruses. Simply visiting a compromised Web site can cause infection if certain browser vulnerabilities are not patched.

When it comes to doing business online, security is a two-way street. Safe online transactions demand smart behavior on the part of consumers and proactive security policies and procedures on the part of Web sites.

Businesses that sell goods or services online also have a responsibility to keep their transactions secure and private. And the more sites know about current e-commerce security threats, the better job they can do at protecting their transactions. Your browser should comply with industry security standards, such as SSL Certificate. SSL(Secure Socket Layer) is a security Protocol.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/10-points-to-keep-your-network-secure-and-safe-from-hackers-and-viruses-1458210.html

About the Author:

Nill Smith is a contributing author for ClickSSL.com, a website that provides discount offers on SSL Certificates from our websites online. If you are searching great offers and discounts for buy ssl certificates. Author can offer branded SSL Certificates at affordable price.

The marketing hype from publishers of anti-virus and anti-spyware software might lead you to believe that do-it-yourself virus removal is simply a matter of installing the right product. However, if you don’t know what you’re doing, your attempts to clean a virus from your computer may be a complete waste of time, or worse yet — cause more problems than you had before you started on your PC virus removal endeavors. Especially if you have contracted a newer virus, or one that only has homegrown tips on how to remove that virus or bug, you run into the real possibility of damaging your computer or losing some, or all of, your important files.

Missing the target – About 600 new viruses and other types of malware are discovered every month. It’s nearly impossible for off-the-shelf anti-virus software to stay in front of that tidal wave, and the shareware products that abound on the internet are usually months out of date. Thus, your software may give you a clean bill of health when in fact your computer is still infected, and spreading the infection undetected, in the background.

Catching it again – An increasing number of viruses are designed to survive detection and removal, by reinstalling themselves every time you start your computer. Most hard-drive based anti-virus programs are powerless against these kinds of viruses, because the viruses load before the anti-virus software gets a chance to. Your computer might be “clean” when you finish your virus removal, only to be re-infected the next time you boot up.

Losing the baby, keeping the bathwater – Some types of “malware” — such as adware — are actually components of freely distributed software programs, which won’t run without them. And an aggressive anti-virus program can often give “false positives”, identifying harmless program components as lethal viruses. If you automatically delete or quarantine them, programs you were counting on may stop working.

Winning the battle, losing the war – Some anti-virus spyware is so aggressive it can use a significant amount of your computer’s memory. Thus, causing your computer to slow to a crawl or interfere with the installation of legitimate software or even day-to-day usage of your PC. With performance degradation like that, who needs a virus?

The hard fact is that virus programmers are much, much more computer savvy than most users. To clean your computer safely, it’s best to turn to a trained professional with high-end tools and the knowledge to be able to tell what’s really a threat and what’s a necessary file.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/dangers-of-diy-computer-virus-removal-1397433.html

About the Author:

CPS provides professional PC virus removal for Brighton, Howell, Hamburg, Pinckney, and all of Livingston County, Michigan.

You hear and see more and more of it. Huge internationally, renown websites fall victim to distributing malware to their visitors via malicious advertisements. Currently it’s the #1 way to distribute malware and not a lot can really be done about it. Here are the 2 most popular ways malicious ads can ruin your online reputation with your users and search engines:

Method 1:

1. A person or group contacts you (or your advertising dept) and buys ad space.

2. Your advertising dept receives a flash advertisement that looks perfectly safe and harmless.

3. The ad is approved.

4. Later that day a script is triggered in the flash animation to automatically download a malicious .exe (like fake-av.exe) as soon as the user (like mom or pop) visits the web site. In some instances users may be redirected to a site that loads a barrage of exploits against the users PC. This is far worse than 1 malicious .exe of course.

5. The site administrator may or may not be alerted quickly to the site hijacking.

6. All it takes is just a few seconds or minutes to infect thousands of visitors.

7. The malicious ad is removed, but it way too late.

Obviously the easiest way to defend against this type of hijacking is just to say no to any scripted advertisements. This will cut down on maliciously scripted ads, however it also cuts down on good advertisers willing to pay good money for ad space. It’s a tough choice.

Method 2 – this is nearly impossible to deal with…

1. A person or group contacts you (or your advertising dept) and buys ad space.

2. Your advertising dept receives a flash advertisement that looks perfectly safe and harmless.

3. The ad is approved.

4. Later that day the landing page for the ad is switched to a malicious landing page.

5. When a visitor clicks the ad they may now be subjected to whatever is on the new malicious landing page.

6. Again, the website administrator may or may not be alerted to the malicious ad in a timely manner.

7. The malicious ad is removed, but it way too late.

Keep in mind that I’ve only discussed 2 ways malicious ads can ruin your online reputation. They are many more.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/how-a-legit-website-starts-distributing-malware-1399154.html

About the Author:

For other tips on protecting your website stop by my blog at remove-malware.com. I also have another blog I’m working on that centers on netbook comparisons and netbook windows 7.

Example 1
Dear user of the your_domain.com mailing service!

We are informing you that because of the security upgrade of the mailing service your mailbox (user@your_domain.com) settings were changed. In order to apply the new set of settings click on the following link:

http://your_domain.com/owa/service_directory/settings.php?email=user@your_domain.com&from=your_domain.com&fromname=user

Best regards, your_domain.com Technical Support.

Example 2
Notice of Under Reported Income
Taxpayer ID: frankjames-00000123456789US
Tax Type: INCOME TAX
Issue: Unreported/Underreported Income (Fraud Application)

Please review your tax statement on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website (click on the link below):

review tax statement for taxpayer id: frankjames-00000123456789US

Internal Revenue Service

Example 3
You may recieve a email from your bank or other financial institution wanting you to verify your account information for whatever reason. THIS IS ALWAYS AN ATTEMPT TO OBTAIN YOUR ACCOUNT INFORMATION!   DON’T DO IT! Your bank or other financial institution will never request this information from you through an email.   If in doubt call your bank.  Never trust any phone number listed in the email.   Use your latest bank statement or the phone book to find the phone number.

Example 4
You should never recieve an email from yourself.  This is one of the many ways spammers use to fool your email system in to thinking it’s a valid email.

Here are a few simple steps you can use to help protect yourself.

• If in doubt JUST DELETE THE EMAIL!
• Ensure your anti-virus software is up-to-date.
• If you get a lot of email from friends and family then ask them to put a secret code in the subject line.  For example “Pictures from Mike’s Birthday Party – 7654″ Only you know this code so it should be a valid email. A spambot will not know about the code.
• If you think it might be legitamate then Google it. I’m sure someone has ran in to the same email and will have some insite on it’s legitimacy.

• If it’s from an institution that you do business with then call them.   Be sure to use a phone number listed on a current statement or the phone book.
• Never send user ID’s or passwords to anyone through email.  Email is not secure!

Be Safe!

In Passwords Part I: Why Do We Need Them? we discussed the importance of using strong passwords. In this article, we’ll describe strong passwords and how to create them.

So, what makes a password weak or strong…aren’t they all the same? Well, no…they aren’t the same, especially to hackers and their password-breaking programs as mentioned in Part I. Essentially what makes a password strong is its length in characters and the combination of capital and lower case letters, numbers and symbols. You see, a strong password should resemble a string of random characters to a hacker. Let’s take these characteristics one at a time.

The longer the password the stronger it is. Your password should be at least 8 characters in length and the more characters you add, the stronger it will be. Fourteen characters or more is ideal. I know…right about now you’re saying, “I have a hard time remembering my cell phone number; how am I going to remember a password with all these characters?” Settle down, don’t get all puffy faced…I’ll tell you how to create and remember the strongest passwords.

One good technique is to think of a phrase that you can remember; such as “strong passwords” (please don’t use this or any example as your real password). The password would look like “strongpasswords”, a weak password, by the way, according to Microsoft’s really sweet Password Checker found at http://www.microsoft.com/protect/fraud/passwords/checker.aspx . Now let’s make it stronger by using capitals and substituting numbers for look-alike letters and adding a special character such as “Str0ngP455w0rd5!” rated as “best strength”.

We obtained the “best strength” level by mixing up the types of characters. For instance, capitalizing some letters and not others has helped. A password with greater than 8 characters helps. Using numbers and symbols will also strengthen it. Note that the letter O was replaced with zeros, the letter A was replaced by the number four, and the letter S was replaced by the number five. Then we added an exclamation point character at the end.

Remember, the more variety of characters in your password, the harder it is for hackers to guess. I’ve always been one that follows the Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) principal, but this is one time complexity is a very good thing. Trust me on this.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/passwords-part-ii-what-are-strong-passwords-anyway-1296232.html

About the Author:

Paul Lubic is a seasoned IT guy who’s used computers at home for more years than he’d care to say. His objective is to use this article and his blog site to pass on lots of valuable information that you can use in your home computing endeavors. Check back often to see what he’s up to at Paul’s Home Computing Blog at http://www.paulshomecomputingblog.wordpress.com.

Remember, home computing is a blast…keep it productive and enjoyable.
Paul E. Lubic, Jr.
paulshomecomputing@yahoo.com

If you use the Internet and/or store valuable or personal information on your computer; you must defend against a multitude of threats in today’s computing environment. We are constantly bombarded with viruses, bots, worms, and hackers that want to break into our computers and obtain information which can be used to make money for the cyber criminals who own them. The cyber nuts who do these things have shifted from introverted techie hackers who want to make a name for themselves at a Black Hat Convention (an annual conference for hackers), to organized groups of hackers whose purpose in life is to steal personal information for profit (think Russian Mafia).

The tools they use are bots, virus-like programs that infiltrate your computer, store themselves on your disk, and collect information such as your social security number, name, address, and credit card numbers. This information is used to charge directly to your credit card accounts and to commit other identity theft in order to open new accounts in your name. And many still use the tried and true method of hacking (gaining access) your computer and searching your files, etc. until they find something of value.

In many cases having a good, strong password is the last line of defense against these thieves. Because the stronger the password, the longer it will take a hacker to find out what yours is. And like most thieves, hackers want to get in, get the goods, and get out as quickly as possible. Therefore, just like a house burglar will go to the next house if he sees a dog or an alarm system, so will a hacker move on to a computer with a weak password upon encountering one that is taking a while to discover.

So…why do we need passwords? Because without them you’re unprotected against crooks…much akin to not locking the doors to your house, period. Look for my companion article: Passwords Part II: What Are Strong Passwords Anyway? which addresses strong passwords and how to create them.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/passwords-part-i-why-do-we-need-them-1296223.html

About the Author:

Paul Lubic is a seasoned IT guy who’s used computers at home for more years than he’d care to say. His objective is to use this article and his blog site to pass on lots of valuable information that you can use in your home computing endeavors. Check back often to see what he’s up to at Paul’s Home Computing Blog at http://www.paulshomecomputingblog.wordpress.com.

Remember, home computing is a blast…keep it productive and enjoyable.
Paul E. Lubic, Jr.
paulshomecomputing@yahoo.com

While MalwareWar promotes itself to be a legitimate spyware removal application, it is actually a rogue security program designed by hackers for the purpose of stealing your money. This program hopes to alarm the user by displaying security alerts that warn them of infected files and other security threats that exist on their PC. This malicious program assures the user that if infections are found during the scan they offer, they will be removed so that your computer is secure once again.

The problem? It is all a total lie. MalwareWar is actually spyware, and does not have the ability to scan your PC for any type of security threat. The results that you see if you do fall for the scam are made up. This program cannot detect anything, and certainly cannot remove anything that may or may not exist. While they will inform you that you must purchase the full product in order to eliminate these threats, be warned that you may as well set your money on fire, as this rogue is completely bogus. The only thing it is really capable of is causing problems and potential damage to your PC.

What are these problems? First of all, rogue security programs like these often install more malware, which makes things worse. They often have the ability to modify system files and collect information about your online interests, as well as private data. Upon start up of your computer, the program will remain resident and run constantly in the background, taking up valuable system resources. This means that your PC may become slow or unstable.

Other symptoms that are common with these malicious applications are incessant pop-up ads and security warnings, browser redirection, spam emails and a changed home page. You may find that it is nearly impossible to visit a website you are trying to visit. As time goes on, the symptoms get worse, making it hard to do anything at all on your computer. These programs are dangerous, and should be removed at once when you realize that a problem exists.

You may be tempted to remove MalwareWar yourself, but this is a process that is not easy, and can cause damage to your computer because of the difficulty level. To remove spyware and other parasites, you should use a reputable antispyware tool that guarantees 100% removal of all infections and security threats, so that your PC is protected once again.

To scan your pc for free and find out if you have MalwareWar click here.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/malwarewar-is-a-devious-rogue-1268502.html

About the Author:

Carl runs a site devoted to helping you rid your computer from all sorts of spyware and malware at http://www.spyzooka.com/

It surprises me how many users don’t take computer security seriously.

With hackers, spammers, and viruses lurking around every corner, you can’t afford not to follow some basic steps in protecting your PC and your personal information.

Here are the 10 ways to keep your computer safe.

1. Update your OS
2. Install anti-virus and update
3. Use anti-spyware/adware
4. Secure your home network
5. Use a firewall
6. Don’t use IE
7. Watch out for email attachments
8. OpenDNS
9. Be careful with dangerous websites
10. Keep your personal information safe

1. Update Your Operating System (Windows Update)

The first thing you should do, after getting a new PC or reformatting, is to run Windows Update.

In my household, I have 4 computers running Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Ubuntu 9.04, Xubuntu 9.04. Some dual-boot while one triple-boots etc.

Whichever operating system you are using, make sure to update them frequently. Especially if you’re running Windows, I recommend that you turn on the auto-update in ‘Windows Update’ if not already done so. Microsoft releases frequent vulnerability and security fixes.

Keeping your operating system up to date is the first step in keeping your computer safe. To check if you’re covered (in Windows), open up your control panel and click on Windows Update. If you see the automatic update option selected, you’re all set. If not, either choose the full auto update or the option that gives you the chance to choose which updates to install yourself. Just don’t turn it off. If you must turn it off for whatever reason, manually check the Windows Update website at least once a week.

Recommended: Try out Ubuntu, the most popular Linux distro. Using a Linux OS may sound too nerdy for some, but the level of user-friendliness has gotten a lot better over the years. It has all the pretty GUI, too. And, if you’re having problems, a huge online community is waiting to help you. It’s FREE and SAFE.

2. Install Anti-Virus and Keep the Virus Definitions Up-to-Date

An anti-virus software is a MUST. If you don’t have one, you are almost guaranteed to get infected; it’s only a matter of time.

It is amazing how many people don’t have an updated anti-virus running on their computers. Especially if you bought a pre-assembled PC from Dell or HP or Acer etc., your computer may come with a free trial period of 30 days to 1 year. Be mindful of this when you purchase a new PC.

When your subscription period runs out, you will need to either pay to continue using the anti-virus you currently have or get a different anti-virus software. Shop around.

Recommended: There are tons of options out there. But Avast and AVG are two of the best. Why? Because they’re free and very effective. Now, if you want more features and protection, you can move up to a paid anti-virus software. I know Symantec and Mcafee are two of the dominant players, but I don’t recommend them as they take more resources to run and there are others with better detection rates. Full list of recommended antivirus

3. Anti-Spyware / Adware

Many times when a PC user complains about a sluggish computer or a slow startup, it is due to a presence of ad/spyware. Most common ones are mostly cookies from your browser as you surf the web and are not very dangerous, while some spywares are very malicious in nature. One example is a key-logger that can log your key strokes to steal your credit card numbers and passwords.

There are also adwares that hijack your browser’s homepage to display their content every time you load up your browser and toolbars that won’t go away.

These days, a lot of anti-virus softwares are able to protect your PC from spy/ad-wares, too. But if you want to be extra safe, install a couple of anti-spyware programs that will more aggressively block various malwares.

Recommended: Free: Spyware Blaster, Windows Defender, SuperAntiSpyware

You can get started with just a couple of those. If you have Windows Vista or 7, you will have Windows Defender by default. So, you might as well use it. I recommend Spyware Blaster in all cases. You simply run it, update, and protect. It doesn’t need to run in the background. It adds black lists to your browsers, and provides an effective prevention. SuperAntiSpyware is a complete suite with real-time protection.

4. Secure Your Home Network

In today’s typical household, multiple computers share a single internet connection. Usually, a router is used to share that connection.

What many people forget is that router is not only an internet sharing device, but a firewall to protect your whole network as well.

Setting up your router’s firewall is the first thing you need to do when setting up a network. Make sure that the firewall feature is turned on in the router settings.

What’s more concerning is that, with the gaining popularity of wireless (WiFi) networks, people are leaving the door wide open to potential hackers and your neighbors (who’s accessing your wireless network right now). You need to protect your computers not just from threats on the internet but also from threats close to your house.

If you have a wireless network enabled in your router, please look at your security settings. If you’ve never touched it, it is very likely that your neighbors had a peek inside your network a few times.

Set it up so that you are using WPA or (preferably WPA2 if supported) with AES encryption (or TKIP if your device doesn’t support AES). WEP is no good. It can be cracked within a couple of minutes. Even WPA is not all that safe these days, but you might not have the option to use WPA2.Create a shared key (password) that’s impossible to guess.

My key is 60+ characters long with numbers and lower/upper case letters randomly generated by the router.

5. Use a Firewall

A firewall prevents intruders from getting in. If you have a router, you already have a firewall. Just confirm that it is up and running. A software firewall can increase the level of security, and especially if you don’t have a router, you need a software firewall. Windows has a built-in firewall, and should be enabled by default. There are other popular firewalls like Zone Alarm.

What I’d recommend, if you want to keep things simple, is to use a security suite that has both anti-virus and firewall included. Full list of recommended firewall

6. Try Something Other than Internet Explorer

If you are still using Internet Explorer as your main browser, you really need to switch. IE is the most vulnerable and is also the least efficient browser on the market.

Browsers such as Firefox, Opera, and Chrome are much faster and safer. At the moment, Firefox is the most popular alternative. But I encourage you to try out all the browsers and see which one you like the best.

I highly recommend Opera. Opera is faster than Firefox. It has built-in email client, bittorrent client, widgets, mouse gestures and more. Opera has all these features built-in, yet, it is smaller than Firefox. With the new release of Opera 10 with Turbo (speeds up browsing for slower connections), I predict it will gain more market share. I personally use Firefox, Opera, and IE. Firefox is my main browser; Opera is number two. IE is only used when testing website changes and visiting Korean websites. Lots of Korean websites are only compatible with IE, which I really hate.

7. Careful Opening Email Attachments

Even if you receive an email from one of your friends, don’t assume it’s safe to open file attachments. Some viruses take control of a person’s email account and sends viruses to all his contacts.

If an email is from a stranger, most likely the attachment is a virus. Having an anti-virus should protect you from email threats, but still be careful.

Now, if you experience harm because you had replied to a Nigerian email saying you won a $10 million lottery, there’s nothing that can help for you other than your common sense.

8. Try OpenDNS

OpenDNS is a free DNS service that can help your browsing experience to be faster and safer. DNS (Domain Name System) “translates domain names meaningful to humans into the numerical (binary) identifiers associated with networking equipment for the purpose of locating and addressing these devices worldwide.

An often used analogy to explain the Domain Name System is that it serves as the “phone book” for the Internet by translating human-friendly computer hostnames into IP addresses. For example, www.example.com translates to 208.77.188.166.” – Wikipedia

OpenDNS keeps track of and blocks harmful websites and also has a parental control feature and more.

All you have to do is put these two numbers “208.67.222.222″, “208.67.220.220″ into your router settings or your computer’s network settings.

Instructions for various routers and computers are available on the website.

9. Be Careful about Which Sites You Visit

If you got OpenDNS all set up, you can worry about this a little less. But OpenDNS cannot protect you 100% as news malicious sites keep on popping up.

Warez, crack, and adult sites are the most dangerous categories of websites. Don’t visit them unless you know it’s safe.

Again, an anti-virus will protect you from this kind of threats as well. See how important an anti-virus is?

10. Keep Your Personal Information Safe

Many of these threats are aimed at getting your personal information. So, keep them safe!

Don’t easily give away your name, email, phone, and address to any website.

Don’t store credit card and other sensitive information on your computer. Sometimes, you have to store them on your computer. If so, don’t save an Excel file with your credit card numbers as “credit card numbers.xls” and put it in a shared folder.

Your neighbor who was sharing your internet connection might be tempted. Playing with files will be of little help. You should encrypt your files with a password, too, if it stores sensitive information.

Overall, be mindful of protecting your personal data.

I hope you learned some ways to protect your computer and your personal data. Web is a dangerous place. You must always be on the lookout and have protection. Click here fore the full article with all the recommended software.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/10-ways-to-keep-your-computer-safe-1246514.html

About the Author:

Scam Free Internet – News, alerts, and tech tips on avoiding internet scams and rip-offs.

SpyShredder is an extremely dangerous rogue security program that is designed to look like an authentic spyware removal tool to the user. This application advertises aggressively to the user through non-stop pop-up threat alerts and advertisements. The hacker’s main intention is to make the user believe that threats and parasites exist on their PC, so that they will buy the full product. These programs are a threat to the health of your computer, as well as your personal information.

This fake is a parasite that is capable of placing even more malware on your computer. SpyShredder may disable system files that are necessary for proper functioning, which will cause your computer to become unstable or slow. Information about your online activities may be collected and sold to third parties. Your personal passwords and business data may be at risk, and your PC could crash. If you notice that you are receiving an unusual amount of pop-up ads or that your browser redirects to unknown websites, you may have malware.

These programs often get installed without your knowledge or permission. They often get placed due to insufficient security settings, loopholes in your browser, or piggyback on other programs you download like music, videos and games. You may also get this rogue by clicking on links in spam emails. Practice safe surfing habits, but if you do become a victim, remove it immediately once detected.

SpyShredder, like most other fake antispyware programs, starts on every Windows start up and runs undetected by you in the background. It takes up a good amount of your system resources, which accounts for the slowness or “freezing up” of your computer. In worse case scenarios, your PC may crash. You may be tempted to remove this parasite manually, but this is not advised. All related files and values must be located and deleted, which is not an easy process. Your computer is at risk of damage as well when you do this.

If you get security alerts warning you of infections, do not download the free scan. By doing so, you are actually placing SpyShredder on your PC. However, if you do contract it some other way, you need to remove it at once to avoid further damage or problems. The best action you can take is to get a reputable antispyware tool that guarantees 100% removal of all infections, security threats and other parasites. Your computer, as well as your personal information, will be secure once again!

To scan your pc for free and find out if you have SpyShredder click here.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/spyshredder-dont-depend-on-it-for-security-1194527.html

About the Author:

Carl runs a site devoted to helping you rid your computer from all sorts of spyware and malware at http://www.spyzooka.com/