Making Connections

 

Image via Wikipedia

Today, with so much information regarding a person’s life is on the Internet, so much can go wrong if people are not careful.

Guarding against the malicious intent of hackers with the best firewall, security, and anti-virus programs is a good start. However, no computer program can replace common sense, when it comes to protecting your personal information, regardless of how protected computers are from harm.

When it comes to protecting your personal information, including user names and passwords, credit card, and other account information, it pays to be vigilant against fraudulent websites and email messages.

Fraudulent Emails

Proceed with extreme caution when dealing with emails in your blackberry smart phone asking for your personal information, dealing with financial affairs, with these do’s and don’ts:

Do not:

• Click on any links contained in unsolicited emails
• Reply to unsolicited emails
• Fill out any forms contained in emails asking for personal information
• Open attachments contained in emails from unknown senders
• Respond to emails asking you to act quickly, or emails telling you that it is an urgent matter

Do:

• Remember that when emails promise offers or deals that appear too good to be true, they probably are
• Verify requests for any personal information claiming to be a financial institution where you conduct business
• Log onto your personal account at the official site and contact them using the information on the site.
• Contact the business and make them aware of the emails
• Always compare the link in the e-mail with the link to which you are directed and determine if they match and will lead you to a legitimate site

Fraudulent Text Messages

With smishing, scammers send text messages to cell phones, offering deals in an attempt to secure personal information.

Have you found that a malicious virus has infected your computer? As you may know, viruses are programs that usually infect your computer through email or file attachments from websites. They attack your computer’s files and are able to spread very quickly. You may find your computer slowing down considerably or that your applications are not performing properly.

Your computer may start shutting down or restarting all by itself. This can be particularly hard on you if you are doing something like working on online Bachelors programs or other such actions. Viruses are designed to cause as much damage as possible, to include deleting files or corrupting your operating system.

So how do you fix this problem when you realize that you’ve been infected?

Do some online research for obtaining a copy of antivirus software. You can find many free and paid software packages. You should make sure that the software is legitimate, and not just another way for more viruses to attack your computer.

If you choose a free option, you will just need to click on the link to start the download. These packages will provide instructions. You may need to provide some registration information in order to complete the install.

If you chose a commercial package, you will follow the same instructions as above; however, you will need to enter payment information.

You can also choose to go to a storefront and purchase an antivirus program on CD. In this instance, you’ll simply insert the CD into your computer’s CD drive and it will automatically run.

After running the antivirus software and you have gotten rid of the viruses, make sure you run the program regularly to reduce the chances of getting infected again.

Concerns about computer viruses and clickjacking have forced many Internet users to avoid survey sites. They worry that these sites will infect their computers with malicious programs that will steal their information or post embarrassing information to their Facebook accounts. Instead of using survey sites that look troublesome to your customers, consider using an option that they can trust.

Avoid Third-Party Survey Sites

Third-party survey sites worry many Internet users because they have had bad experiences with them in the past. They might have encountered a clickjacked link on Twitter or Facebook that caused their accounts to relay information that they never authorized. In some cases, they find the information quite embarrassing, especially when the content focuses on sex scandals and ridiculous celebrity gossip.

Using a third-party survey site, therefore, could create a wall between you and your customers. If you want to get honest information from them, then you should avoid using these sites.

Targeted Surveys on Your Website

Instead of using a third-party survey site, consider using a survey service that can question customers on your website. Internet users often feel safer answering survey questions that pop up on the websites they already trust. A company like kissinsights.com can offer targeted survey questions that appear on your site. They then gather the responses to give you an accurate look at what your customers think.

Online business owners always have to stay on top of the latest trends. Doing this can help you make customers feel more comfortable and lead your business to higher levels of success.

 

Image via Wikipedia

Hackers love the challenge of getting into a business’s computer system to get access to personal information and release viruses. Protecting yourself from these kinds of attacks is essential.

When a hacker enters your system, they are often searching for the goldmine of customer information saved on a business computer server. They look for names, bank account information, social security numbers and more. It is essential that you protect your customer’s information with a strong firewall. You should also have top of the line protection software that is designed specifically for businesses. The investment is well worth it when your customers can trust your system with their personal information.

If you do business online, your site should be protected by as SSL certificate. This gives customers confidence that your site is safe. Your email is a potential hot spot for hackers to enter your system. Be wary of any message that has attachments, images, click boxes or that is unfamiliar. If you are in doubt, don’t open it. Once you open an email or click on a link that is unknown, a hacker can have an open door to your system. With a quality anti malware and anti-virus software program, you can protect yourself from threats such as this.

Many programs will even warn you if a site has potential threats on it. This is critical if you are surfing the internet and have a such such as this come up on a search engine. By making your system secure, you can prevent potential hackers from entering your system.

One of the biggest choices computer users have to make is what type of antivirus program to use. Antivirus programs protect your most valuable documents and data, and UFX Markets Trading investments from viruses and hackers. However, with so many companies putting out new antivirus programs it can be hard to figure out which ones offer the best protection.

Whether you are a casual computer user or an avid computer user like an online trading broker, here’s a look at some of the features you should look for in an antivirus program that will help protect your data and documents.

Real Time Scanning

If you are connected to the Internet 24/7 than you need a virus protection that is running during that period of time. Some virus scanners will only run once you’ve started the scan, by then it could be too late as this detects the virus only after its gotten on your computer. With real time scanning, viruses are caught when they are trying to download themselves onto the computer which allows you to stop them in their tracks before they do any damage.

Firewall Protection

Firewalls are designed to protect your data and documents from viruses and hackers. A firewall will prevent anyone without access from gaining the ability to view any personal information that might be on your computer. This often serves as the first line of defense against hacker attacks and viruses as they are stopped before they even make it onto your computer.

If you are looking for a virus protection program that will give you the best protection, look for a program that offers firewalls and real time scanning.

 

Cover of The Shining [Blu-ray]

Anyone who has seen the movie, The Shining, starring Jack Nicholson as the psychotic caretaker of a mountain resort hotel, thinks of Nicholson’s character’s descent into insanity when they hear the famous proverb, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy“.

You might not see it in direct tv sunday ticket but I’m sure you remember the line.

One effect of the movie’s use of the proverb on popular culture was the inspiration for a computer virus titled Sunday. Seattle, Washington computer users discovered the Sunday computer virus in November of 1989. It is a member of the Jerusalem virus family. Users in Jerusalem, Israel, discovered the computer virus in October of 1987.

Once infected, the symptoms include:

• The increase of COM and EXE files by size
• COM files increased by a set amount
• EXE files increased by anywhere from that set amount, to 9 or 10 bytes less

The Infected files on the computer contained the string “Today is SunDay! Why do you work so hard? All work and no play make you a dull boy! Come on! Let’s go out and have some fun!”

The Sunday virus was a patched version of the Jerusalem virus, in that it infected files differently. Modified from the Jerusalem virus, the Sunday virus infected .EXE, .COM, and .OVL files, which like the Jerusalem, occasionally corrupted the infected files.

The Jerusalem was initially the virus of the day and it spawned a number of variants. The creators of the Sunday virus intended it to set off every Sunday, while the Jerusalem ran every February 13.

The Sunday virus failed to execute its payload, because of an error in the code. Since Windows, the DOS viruses, such as Jerusalem, and its variants, are obsolete.