Spyware – Computer Viruses – Trojan Horses – Phishing – Adware. The internet today can be a dangerous place. Sometimes the consequences associated with these dangers are not too severe, such as in the case of excessive pop-up ads with adware. However, the consequences associated with the rest of these annoyances can cause many unpleasant things to happen, such as:

• Your computer can run more slowly
• Your computer might lock up frequently or crash
• You might lose important files stored on your computer
• Your personal privacy might be compromised
• Your identity might be stolen through a Phishing scam

 Thinking about all the dangers on the internet can be quite overwhelming. What exactly do you really need to protect yourself and your computer from an attack, and what will it cost to secure your computer? The good news is that many of the things you can do won’t cost you anything, and the costs associated with the other solutions are not outrageous. Here are some things you can do to protect yourself and your computer.

• Make sure you are current with all updates and security patches for the version of Microsoft Windows you run. You can set your computer to receive these updates automatically – go to Microsoft’s web site to find specific instructions.
• Have a good anti-virus program installed on your computer, and keep your virus definitions up-to-date. If your software program allows you to check automatically for updates, be sure to turn on that feature. Run a full system scan of your computer at least once a week.
• Install a good anti-spyware/spyware removal program on your computer. Get a program that gives you updates as soon as they are released, and one that gives you real time protection against future infections. Run a full system scan at least once a week.
• Use a personal firewall. A firewall controls the communication to your computer from the internet. There are two types of firewalls – hardware and software based. Many wireless and wired routers have a firewall built into them already. If your router doesn’t have this feature, you can purchase a software based one.
• Set your e-mail programs to read messages in text format rather than HTML to give you added protection against a drive by download program.
• Always run the most recent versions of your internet browser and instant messaging programs.  Consider using FireFox over Internet Explorer.
• Set your internet browser security to the highest (most secure) levels.
• Be wary if you receive an e-mail from someone you don’t know. Never open an attachment to an e-mail if the sender is not known to you.
• Don’t provide personal information in response to any e-mail message. Be wary of clicking on the links in e-mail messages that ask for your personal information.  Here is a good example of a phishing email looking for personnal information.

Protecting yourself and your computer from the dangers of spyware, viruses and the like is not as difficult as you may think. Most of the software programs you will find on the market are easy to install and configure. Some common sense and a few minutes of preparation are all you need to protect yourself and make your internet experience safe, secure and most of all FUN.

Here’s a good phishing email.  One of the things you will learn that when they start of with “Hello Friend”, “Dear Sir”, they don’t have a clue who you are, but are hoping that you will answer them. 

********************************************* 

Hello Friend,

Hope you are doing great and sound? I am Dr. Norman
Kenneth de Andrade Barrister at law and attorney to
late Goethem Haemer, a Greek Merchant otherwise known
as my client who was based in the United Kingdom and
died of complications from injuries sustained after a
ghastly motor accident.

As the attorney to Sir Goethem Haemer I was his
confidant as he shared with me virtually everything
about himself, his business and family. I was his
attorney for 15 years and during that period I wrote
his WILL and was also named as the executor, which has
since been fulfilled. I am also aware due to my
closeness to him that the amount of 22 Million Euros
he deposited with a bank in Europe was not willed out.
He told me about this on his sick bed and even instructed
that I should prepare a codicil to that effect,
however before I could finish my work he had died.

After his death, funeral and subsequent execution of
his will I went into action to ascertain the
information passed unto me by my client. My
investigation conformed to the information; at that
point I knew I had to do something to move the funds
out of the bank and knowing that I cannot do this
alone I have decided to contact you and seek your
assistance and acceptance to be the next of kin to the
estate. It is necessary for us to move the money out
of the bank now because if we do not do this within
the next two years the bank would regard the money as
sundry funds, which becomes as good as their own
money.

I cannot move the money in my name because he was my
client, for it could arouse suspicion thus the
importance of your assistance. Have my assurance that
there is nothing to fear about, as I also need your
assurance that you would work with me without fear or
favour to achieve our desired objective. The legal
back up is no problem for I would be responsible.
Since the codicil was not ready before his death,
Letters of Administration without Will, would be
secured from the probate office, with this document
granting probate rights in your favour I would
personally apply on your behalf to the bank for the
release of the funds to you.

What I require from you to enable us achieve the above
are your:

Full and Official Names
Address
Date of Birth
Telephone and Fax numbers

Upon receipt of a confirmation of acceptance from you,
a sharing ratio would be worked out between us on the
most liberal terms magnanimous terms.

Take care and have a nice day.

Sincerely,

Norman Kenneth de Andrade
Norman + Associates

********************************************* 

Boy, what a shame.  I am sure his family will have no problem with the extra money.  For someone who is calling you their friend, sure seems strange that they now need your full name???  Giving him this information, will surely start to lead to some sort of identity theft.

Be smart to these phishing emails and don’t become a victim to identity theft.

Below is a sample of a phishing email that I received from a company wanting to use my services.  I find it funny that a company who is in Taiwan needs help with working in the United States.

*************************************************

Company:KINGSTAR SOUND INDUSTRY LTD
Address:NO. 20-126, Ko Hsi Liao,
City: Hsia Liao Tsuen, Shui Shang Hsiang,
Country:Chiayi Hsien, Taiwan

Dear Representative

I have a Job For  you might be intersested in My name is Morris kings ,i am
54 of age and i work for KINGSTAR SOUND INDUSTRY LTD.

We produce Siren  Horn Speakers Driver Units with Transformer and
Many Order Product from Chiayi Hsien, Taiwan

to produce Explosion-Proof speaker  which we supply to our clients
in the north american geographical region(united states) and Europe
for Electronic Making.

We are looking for a representative in United State and Europe to
work for us as a partime worker and we are willing to pay $1000 and pounds
 for every transaction made,which wouldnt affect ur present state
of work.First of all i will like to know your Name/Age/Sex/Location
and what u do for a living presently,Our main factory is located in
Chiayi Hsien, Taiwan  united kingdom and Africa.

Where we produce Siren  Horn Speakers Driver Units with Transformer
and Many Order Product.

Visit: <#a class="fixed" href="http://kingstar.myweb.hinet.net/1.htm<#/a>

The link is commented out. If you rearch the site by going to hinet.net you will see that they are some sort of internet service provided by Chunghwa Telecom. They probably don’t even have any idea of what is going on.

we are looking for a representative in the states, someone who would
help us recieve payments from our customers in the states.

Sounds like a little money laundering? 

We  mean someone that responsible and reliable.Though we are working
on setting up a branch in the states,but for now we need a
representative in the united state who will be handling that
aspect,We are willing to pay $1000 and pounds per every payment you recieve and
you can still keep ur regular job while you work for us.

They really mean getting someone who is niave.  Don’t be one of these people. 

All you have to do is help us recieve payments from our customers in
the states.

These payments are in cashiers cheques or money orders and wire
transaction and they would come to you in your name, so all you need
do is cash it, deduct your payment and wire the rest to us via
western union.But sometimes the fbi gets involved incase someone
trys to run with our money, i hope that is okay If you are
interested.

i would send you an employment letter which you are to sign and send
back to me as soon as possible and i would need you to give us your
fullinfomation

for us to get in contact with you. It wouldnt cost u any amount,from
our business patners, which would come in a cashiers cheque or money
order or wire trasaction.

then u are to cash it and send the cash to us via western union
money transfer all western union charges will be deducted from the
money.as soon as you have the money sent you.

will have to provide us with the Payment information for pickup.I
Look forward to your quick reply. Regards.

Morris Please if you are interested please kindly mail us back
Notices:this is not a scam but a job offer.

*************************************************

Boy I have a great sense of relief that they are telling me that this is not a scam 8:)

Even with all the media attention and public awareness of the problem, computer viruses are still an issue that needs to be addressed when it comes to safe computing. One statistic on the internet reports that approximately 24% of the computers in the USA in that date (2/22/06) were infected with a computer virus.

How can you protected yourself and your computer? The best way to protect yourself and your computer is with virus protection software. It doesn’t matter whether your computer is used for business or personal reasons – or both- virus protection is a key component of your internet safety and security strategy.

Good virus protection software can protect your computer in several ways. First, it can scan all the files on your computer to see if you are infected with a virus. If you are, virus protection software can either remove the virus from your computer or quarantine it so that it doesn’t cause any further harm.

Next, virus protection software can scan incoming and outgoing e-mails and attachments for viruses. Even before the virus infection starts on your PC, virus protection can stop it. Most computer viruses are spread via e-mail, even mail from people you know. It is interesting to note that a computer virus is self-replicating. This means is that the virus is capable of creating copies of itself, and spreading it to other computers on your network or to the people in your e-mail address book. Virus protection software scans all your outgoing e-mails. In the unlikely event that your computer is infected with a virus, virus protection software will stop infected attachments from being sent to all your friends and family.

There are hundreds of thousands of known computer viruses. You can check our computer virus database to see what they are. Virus protection software will protect you against all know viruses. As new computer viruses are discovered, good virus protection software will distribute updates to all users.

A key component in your computer security plan is virus protection software. Along with a personal firewall and anti-spyware software, virus protection programs can give you the peace of mind needed while you surf the internet.

Phishing, not to be confused with the recreational activity “fishing”, is a form of internet fraud which is designed to trick you into giving up personal and confidential information such as bank account numbers, Social Security numbers, user ID’s and passwords over the internet. The word is derived from the idea that the con artists use “bait” in an e-mail message to an ocean of internet users.

How can a Phishing e-mail be recognized? That’s a good question, the criminals using this method are very clever and do a good job attempting to duplicate the appearance of a legitimate company web site. They come close to duplicating the company’s logo, and the web site is very close in appearance to the legitimate company site. There are a few characteristics, however, that are shared by Phishing e-mails. They can be:

• A generic greeting, as opposed to a personalized one, you know, Dear Valued Customer, or something like that. A legitimate e-mail would use your name.
• A false sense of urgency, such as “Your account has been suspended due to suspicious activity” or “Verity your account information, or it will be closed in 24 hours”. A Phishing e-mail wants to generate a sense of urgency, or panic in you so you will quickly respond by clicking on the link and giving up your personal information.
• A request to verity your account information. The Phishing e-mail will build upon the urgency of the message, and state that your account information must be verified immediately.
• A link to click on to gain access to your account. A Phishing e-mail will conveniently provide you with a link to click to get direct access to your account or to verity your account information.

Other things to check to see if an e-mail message is legitimate or a Phishing e- mail would include: misspelled words, typographical errors, bad grammar, pop-up boxes or attachments.

You ask is there any way I can protect myself from these Phishing e-mails. Yes, there are several things you can do to protect yourself, here are some suggestions.

• Be skeptical. If you have any doubts at all about the validity of a message, it is best to be cautious. Phishing e-mails are designed to look legitimate. There is nothing wrong with calling your company directly. Use a telephone number that you find printed on a letter or account that was mailed to you directly from the company. Do not use the telephone number that may appear on the Phishing e-mail. Most companies will never send an e-mail message asking you to verify or provide confidential information. Companies usually have a statement to this effect listed on their web sites.
• Never click on a hyperlink in an e-mail message. If you receive a message that requests you log into your account, you can always open a new browser window and type the web address you know to be accurate into the address bar. Phishing e-mail con artists are clever and will have the hyperlinks look legitimate.
• Keep up to date with your Windows security patches, virus and spyware definitions. A lot of these Phishing e-mails contain a form of spyware in them. If someone is trying to steal your personal information via Phishing e-mail, shat is to stop them from sending another form of spyware program along with the message.

Bottom line is the best way to protect yourself from Phishing e-mail scams is to make it a policy cut in stone never to reply to unsolicited requests for personal information. If you want to verity the legitimacy of a message, call the company directly, and use a number you have received from the company in a statement. Talk to a representative of the company directly.

When you think of spyware, James Bond and his bag of tricks or maybe even the “eye in the sky” of satellite spying comes to mind. It is difficult to imagine than an ordinary person, with an ordinary life and a run of the mill personal computer can be a victim of “spyware”. Who would spy on you? What can be so interesting on your PC that an outsider would invade your privacy? Well, guess what, it does happen.

How, you ask, can this happen to me? It can happen in any number of ways. The fact is, spyware lives all over the internet, hiding in obscure places. Would you think spyware could be hiding in free downloads of screensavers, weather alerts or news alerts? It could. Are you aware there is a type of spyware that changes settings on your computer; your home page could be changed, or your default media altered.? There is also a type of spyware that can be installed to gain information about your user habits, or even gather personal information about you. One type of spyware is a form that generates pop-up ads when you surf the net; and there is also a type that allows remote access or control of your computer.

Not every program or application you download for free from the internet includes spyware. A lot of legitimate programs and applications are available, and it is not fare to lump everyone as a spyware producing application. But, let’s face it, every time you download a free program or application from the web you take the chance of having spyware installed on your computer, whether you like it or not.

How, you ask, can you protect your pc from spyware? Well, here are just a few suggestions:

•  Be sure to keep your antivirus and security patches up-to-date.
•  Don’t think you have to click “no” or “cancel” on a pop-up ad to get rid of it. In Microsoft Windows, use the Ald+F4 option, or click the “x” in the corner.
•  Most importantly, download programs from web sites you trust.
•  Use available tools, such as Webroot’s Spy Sweeper to detect and delete adware, spyware and malware from your computer.

Webroot Spy Sweeper is an effective tool not only to clean spyware from your PC, but also to give you real time protection. It has won the Editor’s Choice Award from PC Magazine on sever occasions. Webroot Software company is a member of the Anti-Spyware Coalition )ASC), an industry group formed to identify tools and best practices to improve the effectiveness of anti-spyware technology.