For years when people would think about Windows based computers they would think about the lack of security. It became a running joke that if you were going to get a Windows computer then you must be ready for the influx of malware that would accompany that decision. And these jokes were made for good reason. For years Microsoft did not take the security of their operating system seriously. They would not make the appropriate adjustments that were known by other operating systems that would at least slow down the bad guys.
And that is what made people mad about the service. If you know the way that you are doing something is inherently insecure, why would you keep on doing it? You set your service up for potshots by your competitors when you do something like that. Microsoft claimed that they did it for two reasons, ease of use for the consumers and keeping with backwards compatibility. The argument was the more you made something secure, the more complexity you would introduce to the system. And also the more changes you made for security sake, the less chances you would have of past programs running on the same operating system. But now that more and more complicated pieces of malware are coming out of the woodwork, these arguments start to hold less water.
Turning the perception around
A lot of the security changes that we see in Windows 7 was actually first implemented in the Windows Vista version of the computer. While that is a good thing, the bad part is that Windows Vista implemented the features very badly. The public for the most part turned against it and a good amount of that same public switched back to Windows XP. That switch back made them very insecure again.
So with Windows 7, Microsoft took those same security features, added a few more, and relaunched them again with a better interface. Both the critics and the regular user were overjoyed by what they saw. It was a modern operating system that had the ability to be able to both have good security and a clean interface. Now when the security questions would pop up, it was less intrusive and more pleasing to the eyes and sensibilities.
Now people could see that Microsoft had taken security seriously on the operating system. And not only was security a first class concern on the operating system, it was also something that they wanted to make a pleasant experience. Most of the top security professionals now agree that Windows 7 is at least just as secure as Mac OS X and not that far away from being as secured as the Linux operating system. That is a huge jump in security quality in a little less than a decade.
When you look at Windows 7, you are looking at Microsoft finally taking security seriously. It took them a while to get the message but they finally did.
This holiday, there are going to be many sales and many offers from around the web that you can take advantage of. You will just have to make sure that you are careful about which sites you choose to visit. Over the years, more and more people are starting to realize that they do not have to go through the hell that is Black Friday to be able to get a good deal during the Holidays. They are now realizing that you can just go on the internet and there will be new deals happening all month long. The internet does pose one risk that you will not get from fighting the traffic during black Friday. And that risk is the risk of infection that might incur from one of the many fake web sites that are out there.
What are fake holiday web sites?
If you pay attention to the news during the course of the year then you will no doubt have heard about some of the crimes that happen online. During the holidays, the online scams get even worse. The bad guys know that there are going to be millions of people that will be online looking for good deals. They will try to take advantage of this fact by posting up web sites that pretend that they are offering a good deal on an item that usually cost a lot more. In reality, this item is not really for sale on the site and they are just looking to get information from you. They will have you post up pieces of personal information such as your credit card number and your driver’s license number. After that, they will take you through the shopping cart experience and after you are finished, they will tell you that your item is on the way. You will wait for a few weeks and when your item does not arrive, you will try to get in contact with them. It is at this point that you will know that you have been scammed. There will be no way to get in contact with them and all of the contact information on the web site will be fake.
Scenarios like this happen all of the time and it is easy to get caught up in it. This is why you need to follow a few tips before you start to shop this holiday season. The first tip is to make sure that the web site you are visiting is real. If the web sites that you decide to buy an item from is not a big web site such as Amazon or Best Buy, Google the web site and see what their online reputation is. If they have a negative or no web presence on Google then it is a site that you will want to avoid. Also, if you have any questions try to contact the owner of the site. If you are not able to contact them, then avoid the site as well.
You must be careful this holiday season when you shop online. Going to the wrong site now can give you a lot of trouble in the future.
When it comes to the distribution of malware, Facebook is slowly becoming one of the top places on the internet where it happens. The rise of malware on Facebook is only partially the fault of the service itself. When a web site all of the sudden becomes popular, it starts to attract different kinds of attention. Some of that attention happens to be from both good guys and bad guys. Bad guys usually gravitate to where most of the people are. They need a good amount of people to be able to entice with their offers or they will not make enough for it to be worth anything. Most people know to stay away from links that do not look right. But there are many more that will click on the wrong links and make the bad guy efforts worth the time and energy. Now that you know how dangerous Facebook can be at times, we will go through some of the steps that you can take to avoid being caught in a trap yourself.
The type of malware on Facebook
Most of the attacks that happen on Facebook have to do with either click jacking or phising attacks. Click Jacking is when the attacker sends you to another web site and the ads are hidden on the site. You might think that you are clicking a submit button or a link to take you to another part of the web page but in actuality you are clicking an invisible ad. A phising attack is when you are sent to another web site and it seems like the site that is legitimate. It might look like another page on Facebook or your bank web site. Actually, if you look at the URL, the site is not affiliated with either one of them. It is a fake web site that someone has set up to fool you. An easy way to tell is to take a look at the URL in the address bar. That will tell you if you are on the right page or not.
Prevent the malware from hurting you
If you want to make sure that you are not affected by the malware that is on Facebook then there are several things that you can do. The first thing to do is to make sure that the person who you think sent a link was actually the one that sent it. There have been times when a person’s account has been hacked and someone has taken it over. If the person account seems to be saying things that it would not normally say then you should be careful about the links that you click from there. If you are careful in which links that you click, that will lead you to be able to avoid 90% of the malware that is on the site. Also, be careful of the apps that you install from Facebook as well. The apps are also known to have infections in them and can be dangerous. Check the reputation of an app before you install it. Make sure that it is OK.
If you are careful on Facebook then the service will hold no problems for you. If not, then the service can be very dangerous.