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.

I think that most people who have a smart phone are enjoying the power that it gives them when they are mobile. Just a few years ago, if you wanted to do some of the things that you can now do on a smart phone then you would have to drag a laptop around with you. With the new smart phones that are on the market, that is no longer the case. The devices are like mini computers. But some people wonder if that can have a negative effect as well. Are the fact that the phone are like mini computers lead to them infecting the normal computers that you have in the household? We will take a look at it and see if there is anything that you have to worry about. 

Do you have to worry?

The short answer is No; you do not have to worry about a virus infecting both your smart phone and your computer. The two devices run on different kind of hardware and making software that could affect both would be very hard. You would have to target both platforms. And the software would have to have a custom compiler that compiled into both platforms as well. Most phones CPU’s are based on the ARM model while most computers are based on the intel x86 model. When you are creating a program to use on a smart phone on your computer, you have to run an emulator to see how it works. The program will not run natively on the machine. A virus is nothing more than a piece of bad software program so if a normal program cannot run on the machine then a virus can’t either. 
 
A more extensive answer is that even though a piece of malware cannot run on both machines, it does not mean that your computer cannot pick one up from the phone. Most smart phones are able to hold data in a storage area. This data can be transferred to both a computer and other smart phones. For example, an MP3 or an Excel spreadsheet is data that is usually shared between the two. While a compiled program cannot run on both machines, the data can be shared. So if you transfer a file that has a virus that was made for a computer onto your system, then there is a chance that you will become infected. 
 

Scan your data

This is why you should scan all of the data that you get from your smart phone before you run it on your computer. You never know what can be hiding on the files. Just like you would scan new data from an email or some that was downloaded from the internet, you must do the same for data that is on your smart phone.

If you are a Windows 7 user then you are protected from a lot of the threats that exist on the internet. But like all technology that involves a large code base, there are still threats and holes in the software that will be found and used against the average user. The main thing that you really have to worry about on the latest systems is holes coming from software that you installed on the computer. Even though the operating system itself may be more secured does not mean that the programs that run on it are secured as well. One of the seemingly biggest threats when it comes to this is the Adobe created software, Flash.

When you are running flash on your system, sometimes you can be exposed to threats that may pop up. Adobe is usually pretty good in closing off the threats as soon as they appear but that means that people have to download the upgrade to Flash so that their system will not be affected. So this is the first thing that you can do to protect your system from exploits that come from having Flash installed. Make sure that you check to see if there are any new threats that you have to worry about. You can usually find this information out by going to a tech news web site such as CNET. If there are any new threats, then make sure that you visit the Adobe web site and download the fix from there.

Another way that you can avoid Flash compromising you system is to use software that will block Flash from running unless you tell it to. If you are running either the Firefox browser or Chrome, you can add extensions that will block Flash from running on a web site unless you give it permission to do so. This means that if you trust the site that you are on, you can allow it to run the Flash that they may have installed on the site. If you are on a site that you have never visited before, then keep Flash block running until you are comfortable with the site. This may take several visits so do not rush it.

The last thing that you can do as a Windows user to avoid having Flash create a problem on your system is to update Windows itself. Usually when there is a hole found in the Adobe software, Microsoft will either offer the newly patched Flash software themselves or they will fix the hole that the vulnerability is taking advantage of. So to keep yourself protected from the threats, all you have to do is what you should be doing in the first place and that is keeping up with the latest updates from Microsoft. Keeping up with these updates will not only secure your from Flash threats, it will also protect you from many numerous other threats out there as well.

So if you are going to run Flash on your system, then you must be prepared for the threats that are there. With these three methods, you will be prepared for whatever comes your way.

For a long time, there has been a debate on which operating system was the best in regards to security. Some people would argue that Linux was the best. Others would argue that Os X was the best and was prettier to look at than Linux. Even recently, Microsoft has been able to boast about the newest security features available in Windows 7. But the fact is the operating system is only part of the battle when it comes to the security of your system. The other part of the battle to keeping your computer cleaned from infestation is the programs that you run and you the user. We will not go too much into the programs that you run in this article but we will talk about things that you the user can do to prevent security mishaps from happening to your system.

As a computer user in the new informational age, you must be more aware of the places that you visit on the internet. Most people are not aware of the dangers that can come to them when they visit a rogue web site. That is okay, you are not expected to be a security expert. But if you take the time to learn what to avoid when you get to a web site, then 90% of the threats that are out there can be avoided.

What to do to stop phishing attacks

The first thing that you can do is to make sure that you are on the page that you are supposed to be on. One of the biggest attacks that happen on the internet are phishing attacks. This is when you a visit a site that looks like a normal site that you would visit but it is actually a fake. A good example of web sites that people will set up a fake version of are Banking web sites. These sites are set to trap unsuspecting users. There is an easy way to avoid this happening to you. You can look at the URL of the site that you are at and make sure that it is the place that you are supposed to be. You check the URL in the address bar at the top of your browser. For example if you’re supposed to be at Google.com but the address bar says fromsdGsoogle.com, then you are on the wrong web site. Some people use Google as their way to surf the web but you are really supposed to use the address bar. Checking the URL will help stop you from being caught up in most phishing attacks.

Email phishing attacks

Another thing that you can do to help your security while on the computer is to not trust any download that comes your way. Black hat hackers have the ability to take over even your friend’s accounts on either social media web sites or their email. So do not trust anything that you have to download. You can go ahead and download it but you must scan it right after. Scan it with an updated antivirus. You should always have an updated and upgraded antivirus installed on your computer for this purpose. If not, then you could be in real trouble.

These are only a few of the many ways that you can help secure yourself and your computer from malicious phishing attacks. The biggest point is that you should use common sense when you are surfing the internet.

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.

Even though everyone may think about security when they use the computer, they may not know the best way to achieve it. Most people have not studied computer science or computer security for a living. They do not understand the many things that it takes to secure the whole of your computer. When they see their system, all they know is that they are able to hit the letters on a keyboard and all of the sudden the information pops up on the screen. Computer operating system makers make it so that the average person is not exposed to the many layers that really go into making your modern day computer. So the average person will rely on what experts tell them is a good way to secure their system. They will hear about malware, antiviruses, pop up blockers, and other things of that nature. But the one thing that they will rarely hear about is encryption. This is not a good thing because one of the best ways to secure your system is to use encryption on it. In this article, we will describe encryption and what are the best programs to use to be able to encrypt your system.

When people talk about encryption, they are usually using a general term that underscores many different techniques to accomplish similar goals. There is no single way to encrypt a file. There have been many arguments on which encryption type is the best. We are not here to argue that. You can look more into it at a later date and decide for yourself which one is the best to use. What we are here for is to give you a brief overview of encryption and how to use it on your system. Encryption is simply the organized obfuscation of data on your computer. A simple way to think about encryption is this way, if you have a code “abcde” and you use “12345” to represent it, you have used a very, very basic form of encryption. The number 1 is represents a, 2 is representing b, 3 is representing c, and so on. Computers are able to use encryption to protect their data in a similar manner but it is a whole lot more complex than what we have shown here.

If you are interested in encrypting files on your computer and do not want anyone to be able to access it without your permission, you can use a program that is called Truecrypt. It will allow you to easily set up a folder that will encrypt all of the data that you put in there. It can also encrypt entire drives of your computer as well. If you have a drive that you do not want anyone to be able to get into, then using Truecrypt will help that.

If you think that you would like to use encryption to protect your files in Windows, then the Truecrypt program is a good way to go.

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.

As you can probably tell from the title, keyloggers are very dangerous programs. But they are programs that you do not hear about every day. They do not get the same press as a computer virus does. If you are involved in computer security then you should be very familiar with them. To the public at large, they really are still a mystery. The one thing that the public should know about them is that if they are ever able to get into your computer, then your privacy on your computer could be severely compromised. There is nothing that you would be able to do on your computer without the bad guys knowing about it. So let’s talk about keyloggers and how they are able to be this destructive.

What keylogger do?

A keylogger is a program that sits on your computer in the background and registers the keystrokes that you make. It then reports the information back to the main server that controls it. There are hardware versions of this type of program as well but these days you will mostly see the software variety. Whenever you type a letter on your keyboard, you are sending a signal that gets registered to your operating system. The operating system, after it translates it, then sends the signal back to the hardware so that the letter that you typed shows up on the screen.  So when the keylogger is sitting in the background during this time, it is taking notes of everything that is being pushed. Once the notes are taken, after a certain amount of time, it then sends it back for the person controlling the server to shift through. Once they see this information, they can use it for their own personal gains. This means that they can either sell it to scammers, or try to scam you themselves.

If you want to make sure that your system steers clear of keylogger, then there are a couple of things that you must do. The first thing that you must do is to make sure that you have an updated antivirus on your system the whole time. A keylogger is usually introduced onto your computer by a Trojan. A Trojan is a piece of malware that carries another piece of malware and delivers it to the target system. Luckily for you, an updated antivirus program will be able to catch a Trojan as well. So as long as you have that on your system then it will help keep you secured. You also want to make sure that you stay off of dangerous web sites. Questionable web sites might be able to have you catch something like this as well. Also, make sure that the links that you click are trusted and will not lead you to any bad places.

As you see there is a lot of dangers that can be picked up on the internet, even some that you have never heard of before. If you want to make sure that your system stays safe, then you need to keep aware of danger such as a keylogger. You do not want anything like this being able to sneak through onto your system.