There is a famous saying, everyone gets a least 15 minutes of fame. But with the internet, that rule has been turned on its head. We all have a chance to be known now. With all of the media that we are able to create with our computers, your voice can easily be heard by the masses. There have been many people that have become overnight stars with the use of YouTube. The good way that we are able to become known over the internet is through the use of web cams. Web cam technology allows people to get a little look at our world. But if you are not careful with web cams, then they can offer people more of a look of your world than you intended them to see. That little gadget that allowed you to be social with people from around the world can be the same thing that destroys your privacy and leaves you more exposed to the public eye more than you would have liked.
This has happened to many people before. They have their web cam connected to a computer and chat through an instant messenger service like Yahoo or AOL. They then visit a web site where they are asked to download something. They download and install this program and nothing seems to happen. So the person decides that the program is no good and they forget about it. What that person does not know is that the program did work. The purpose of the program was to turn on your web cam and give whoever is controlling the program a free peak into your lifestyle. They then are able to record what you do without you knowing. All aspects of your life can now be put up to public scrutiny.
This type of prank has been around for a long time. Even though the protection software for these cameras is better than it used to be, these types of attacks still happen. Some of the attacks are done by kids who just want to get a free peep show. Other attacks are done by bad guys who want to be able to find out information so they can blackmail you with it. This means that if they catch you nude or doing something wrong on camera, they will threaten to release the video unless they are given money. This is not a fun thing for anyone to go through but it does happen.
If you are a person who likes to use their web cam a lot, you must check to see if it is on even after you turned it off. Make sure that there is nothing funny going on with it. Also you must make sure that you keep your computer secure. A good antivirus will be able to pick up if there are any of these types of programs trying to load onto your computer. Overall, if you keep your computer secure then you should not have to worry about your web cam.
We allow many things to access our computers these days. From the data that flows to our system from the internet, to the data that comes into our system from a USB disk or DVD, there are many ways that corrupted malware has a chance of entering our machine. We are used to hearing about programs from the internet being installed into our system and doing damage. This is the chance that we take when we hook up to the internet and install programs from a web site. That is why there are so many programs that are out there that will help you protect your system from intruders that may be able to access you through the internet. What about the other way that we may be able to pick up an infection on our system? There is more than one way that we install programs into our computer. Whenever we install a new piece of hardware onto the computer, we install new software as well. This may come in the form of a program that helps control the hardware or a .sys file that gives the hardware access to the operating system. It may not be as popular a topic but this is also a way that people are able to compromise your computer.
If you are running a new piece of hardware, when you install any programs that come with the hardware, you will want to scan it with an antivirus program. People who do not think twice about scanning a new program that is downloaded from the internet are hesitant to scan a program that is on a DVD disk. You should not trust anyone 100% with the safety of your data. We are not telling you to be paranoid but you should be highly aware of anything that you put on your computer. Installing a program, no matter if it is on a disk or off of the internet can change the way that your computer works completely. Make sure that it does not take you by surprise.
Even though we think of most malware as coming from the software side of things that is not the only place that corrupted code is able to hide. There is hardware out there that has malware hard coded into it. This is especially true in cheap hardware that you get from third world countries. Hardware such as cheap MP3 players and electronic picture frames may have malware hard coded into it. There have been many reported cases of someone’s computer becoming infected by just plugging in one of these pieces of hardware to the USB slot of their machine. Not all cheap hardware is capable of this but there is a lot that is. Before you install cheap hardware of a dubious nature, make sure that you do a search on the internet for it. Check to see if anyone else is having problems with the hardware. If they are, you will usually hear about it very quickly.
Catching a virus from hardware install disk or the hardware itself is not uncommon. Make sure you are aware of this fact when you are using these types of products.
When we use our computer on the internet, we are allowing it to potentially be infested by one of the many dangers that float around on the World Wide Web. So to try and prevent that, we set up programs on our system that are supposed to seek out and stop dangers such as this. But even the latest updated antivirus will not be able to stop every danger that may be out there. This is why it is a good thing for you to know which part of your Window 7 system is a place where an infection or potential infection is most likely to hide. This way if anything strange happens to your computer and you are at a lost as to what is going on, you can check these areas to see if they are clean or not.
The first folder that you want to take a look at in your Windows 7 system is the “Downloads” folder of the computer. If you have downloaded anything to the system, then you know that by default it ends up here. So there is a good chance that anything that may be harming your system originated from this folder. Luckily for you, if the file is still in this folder and you have not accessed it beforehand, then there is a good chance that the infection can be easily removed. Programs usually have to have some sort of interaction to be installed. The method that this occurs is usually by double clicking on an .exe file. On rare occasions, a program can activate without any interaction at all. If the program in this folder is doing that, then deleting the .exe in the folder should get rid of all of your problems.
Another folder that infections like to hide in is the “Programs Files” folder. Whenever you install a new program, the .exe and other files by default are put in this folder. Many virus and other malware writers will rarely put their infections in this folder but some do and that makes it a good place to look. Or if they do put the files and .exe in this folder, then they will place it under a different name. So if you see anything in this folder that seems off and your computer is acting funny, then go online and Google some of the folders that you do not recognize. They may be your problem.
The last folder that you should check is the actual Windows folder. This is where the heart of your operating system is at. You should only access this folder if you know what you are doing. If you have never been in this folder before, then do not go in it now. Only go in if you are familiar with the files that are in this folder. If you are familiar and you see a strange name that you haven’t seen before, then it is again time to check Google.
Even if you know where to look at, you are still going to need a program that will able to analyze the files in the folders to see whether they are good or not. To do this, you can use an online virus scanner to help you out. Viruses can be tricky things; it helps to know where they may be hiding at.