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In this age of cyber-crime and hi tech trickery, many of us already have an awareness of the methods employed by internet tricksters to gain our most personal or precious details. We know that we shouldn’t open email attachments that we weren’t expecting, or that we should ignore emails that claim to be from an African prince who is looking for help shifting his millions to the UK. But what if the email looks absolutely genuine appears to be coming from a website we’re familiar with and is perhaps even expected? I just received an avalanche of emails that seem to be from social networking website Linked In, of which I’m a member. They looked just like the other emails I get from Linked In, but when I followed the link to review my invitations there was a nasty surprise in the form of a screen saying "Please waiting - 4 seconds" that did it’s best to deposit a nasty Trojan Horse virus on my computer. if it weren’t for my vigilant anti-virus software, this virus would have infected my computer and sent all sorts of personal details (including bank codes!) to goodness knows who. So how can we protect ourselves from this kind of attack? I’m going to share with you 3 tips that will help keep you safe from this kind of attack:- 1. Be aware. It’s okay to be suspicious of any email that contains links or attachments. Don’t get too paranoid about it, but it’s certainly worth bearing in mind - were you expecting the email? Is there something a little off about it? For example, I received this email about 6 times, all with different names in the Reminders section, even if I had only received it once, I have never heard of people listed. 2. Don’t Follow Website Links. Links can be forged to make it look as though you’re going to a particular site, when in fact it’s taking you somewhere completely different. If you receive an email from Linked In, PayPal, EBay or your bank, and it seems genuine just fire up a browser and type in the address manually it’s going to take a couple of seconds extra but at least you know that you’re going to the right website. 3. Make sure you have reliable, up-to-date virus software. It sounds obvious but it’s surprising how many people leave themselves open to attack by not having up-to-date virus software ignorance is not going to save you, if you’re not sure ask someone. If your subscription has run out you are not protected. If you are a home user, you can obtain FREE virus software, I use Avast for my family computer and it’s what saved me today you can get a free (no strings!) copy of Avast - just google it.
Article Source: http://www.onlinearticlessite.com
Phill Bernier runs Websites for Consultants, a web agency providing consultants with websites.
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