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Hello all…Hope everyone is well and enjoying summer. I guess the first thing to remember is that “NOTHING IS FREE” especially on the internet. I would say the vast majority of companies have some kind of spyware or adware attached to the software we are installing. So good surfing habits are

Keep your software updated

1)      That means Windows and your Web Browser (i.e.…Internet Explorer). You can do this manually or turn it on within windows to do this automatically

2)      Anti-Virus, spyware/ adware software also will have updates almost daily because of new threats.

Beware of POP UPS

1)      Every time you click on a web page you have the potential of being attacked by Viruses, Worms, Spyware and or Adware. These can be very alluring, look very harmless and legitimate but they will take you to websites that you wouldn’t normally visit.

Avoid Peer 2 Peer (P2P) sites

1)      This is the free music, file sharing sites that we like to think that someone is doing us a favor by giving us something for “FREE” whether its an MP3 or an AVI. The truth is that these are the best place to be infected by any and everything. This is the proverbial “PAY me now or PAY me later.

Just say NO to TOOLBARS

1)      Most if not all of the TOOLBARS that we download and install are actually tracking your internet use whether by tracking the websites that you frequent or personal info and  then turning around and selling it to market research companies

2)      One way that they install these is by working with other software companies and having a small little check box strategically placed in the install procedures of there software programs. So read every page while installing new software so that you are ”NOT” aware of what else is being installed. 

Just remember that Free doesn’t mean free, these companies are tracking and analyze your internet habits at best, at worst there are people wanting to steal your personal information and everything in between.

So happy safe surfing and if you have any questions or concerns please just click on the heading of todays blog and send us your thoughts.

Hello again,

I hope all is well. I would like to continue dwelling into Viruses vs Anti Virus software and take a look today at what a computer Virus is and what its real purpose is .

Viruses – A virus is a small piece of software that piggybacks on real programs. For example, a virus might attach itself to a program such as a spreadsheet program. Each time the spreadsheet program runs, the virus runs, too, and it has the chance to reproduce (by attaching to other programs) or wreak havoc.

E-mail viruses – An e-mail virus travels as an attachment to e-mail messages, and usually replicates itself by automatically mailing itself to dozens of people in the victim’s e-mail address book. Some e-mail viruses don’t even require a double-click — they launch when you view the infected message in the preview pane of your e-mail software

Trojan horses – A Trojan horse is simply a computer program. The program claims to do one thing (it may claim to be a game) but instead does damage when you run it (it may erase your hard disk). Trojan horses have no way to replicate automatically.

Worms – A worm is a small piece of software that uses computer networks and security holes to replicate itself. A copy of the worm scans the network for another machine that has a specific security hole. It copies itself to the new machine using the security hole, and then starts replicating from there, as well.

Malware- Malicious software (mal-ware) is a form of computer program designed with malicious intent. This intent may be to cause annoying pop-up ads with the hope you click on one and generate revenue, or forms of spyware and viruses that can be used to steal your identity or track your activities.

Spyware-Spyware is software that is downloaded onto your computer (often without your knowledge). It can be used by third parties including criminals to monitor your internet activities which could compromise the security of your personal information.

Well this defines the most common “types”Viruses and there tactic to reac havoc on our computers. In my next blog we will talk about the best ways to combat these and what to watch for so that our chances of getting one of these is lowered..Have a wonderful day

And please feel free to leave comments and suggestion for other topics, or questions you may have on this topic.

Hello All,

I don’t know how many calls a day I get saying “I think I have viruses but I am running *.*.* anti virus software”. Well that is great and you should have anti-virus software and it needs to be Active and up to date. But the true is that we also have to beware of Maleware, Trojans, Spyware and the like. All of these can and will affect your computer performance as well as open up security Holes and or disable your anti virus software. There are several ways to combat these from gaining access to your computers information and disabling your security functionality. In my next couple of posts I will go over the easiest ways to protect you from these unwanted intruders.