When choosing an anti-virus program for Windows, the independent Virus Bulletin’s testing and review program provides invaluable information about which programs pass muster. The top 100 antivirus programs (along with those that didn’t make it) are found in this VB100 summary ( . To view the test results, you will need to register. Registration is free.
The best defense against spoof (fake or phishing) emails is to be educated and informed about how to spot them. eBay has a good tutorial on how to protect yourself, as does Stop-Phishing.com from the University of Indiana. Number one tip: when visiting a site in response to an email that asks for some web action, do not click on the link in the email. Instead, navigate to the company site independently, either by looking it up in a search engine, or getting the URL off a billing statement.
In an effort to combat the spread of computer viruses, Google’s Gmail does not allow you to send or receive executable files even if they are in a zipped format. Although many blogs have reported ways around this, most of these violate Google’s terms of service, and your Gmail account could be terminated. The simplest way to is to upload your files to a free online hosting service, and then email the URL to your recipient. Some choices include: Mega Upload , You Send It , Send This File.
In recent months, e-card spam infected with a virulent computer worm has increased. How do you tell the difference between a valid e-card and a virus? Never open a greeting card sent from an unnamed friend, neighbor, classmate, schoolmate, partner or family member. Two things to look for are whether you know the sender, and the kind of link they are asking you to click. Learn more about the Storm Worm at Information Week and this Chris Pirillo Video .
Ever wondered why your Internet connection is busy while you are not doing anything on your computer? It could be a dozen benign reasons (such as an email program checking for email) or it could be malware. Netstat is a free program included with most versions of Windows and Unix that displays all open Internet connections. To learn more, read Use Netstat to Track IPs or How Can I Tell What Internet Activity is Happening On My Machine?.
A new virus that encrypts your computer files and demands $10.99 for a key to unlock your data arrived last month. Dubbed “Ransom-A, “the best way to avoid getting infected is to keep your anti-virus software up to date and to scan your system regularly. Learn more about ransomware at Yahoo! News.
For free anti-virus protection on a Windows desktop, radio and television personality Leo Laporte recommends AVG. For more of his Windows safety tips, read Must Have Security Apps.
In addition to keeping your anti-virus software updated, in the war against computer viruses, it is important to keep your operating system up to date with all the latest security patches. To update your Windows computer, visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and following the instructions to Scan for Updates. For more specific information about the Blaster virus, try What You Should Know About the Blaster Worm and Symantec Security Response W32.Blaster.
