Monday, May 25, 2009

Are you a victim of another Facebook spam?

Have you opened files ending with ".at" or ".be"? If yes, welcome to the 'phishing' victims club. A million Facebook users have been hit by a new phishing scam that can result in crashing your computers or mobile phones and steal your passwords?

The phishing scam is being run through the spam messages which steal sensitive information of the Facebook users. In the attack, the messages are circulated with a subject line of "Hello" and a prompt to check out "areps.at" or other URLs ending in ".at".It is highly recommended not to click on these links for your computer security.

The mails with the subject line "Look at This" and links like -- goldbase.be, greenbuddy.be, silvertag.be, picoband.be -- leads to some malicious Web sites, which if visited, could secretly download malware onto computers through a "drive-by download" application.

The URL connectivity, before being blocked directs the visitor to a fake Facebook page and the mail ID and password are stolen as soon as it is logged-in again.

According to the All Facebook blog.Facebook, the password in such cases should be changed immediately and the same message should be sent across to one's Facebook acquaintance.

"Whoever is behind the scam has been steadily amassing a large number of e-mail addresses and passwords over the past few weeks," the blog says.

Though, Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt said: "The impact of this attack or the previous ones are not widespread and only impacted a tiny fraction of a per cent of users.

"We've been updating our monitoring systems with information gleaned from the previous attacks so that each new attack is detected more quickly," he added.

The site has blocked links to the new phishing sites from being shared on Facebook and has added them to the block lists of the major internet browsers.

The social networking site is working with partners to have the sites taken down completely, he said adding Facebook is also cleaning up phony messages and wall posts and resetting the passwords of affected users.

"We believe the bad guys here are phishing an account and then trying those credentials on webmail providers," Schnitt said.

So, for example, if a user is compromised on Facebook and has the same login and ID password for their Gmail, the attacker may be able to intercept the Facebook password reset and compromise the account again in the future, he added. Password must be changed often to maintain your account security and password security.

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Thursday, May 14, 2009

Free computer security software

Within the past two years Consumer Reports National Research Center says one in five people were victimized by cybercrimes. Their computers were infected by spyware or viruses, they were caught by phishing scams, or they had their identity stolen.

Like more than a million others in the last year, he had his identity stolen while shopping on line. 
“They started out small in 15, 25 dollar increments, and they slowly increased. I tallied it up to somewhere close to $25,000.”
Consumer Reports’ Dean Gallea cautions only shop at sites you trust. And it’s essential to protect your computer from spyware, viruses, and spam by installing security software.
Consumer Reports tested security suites costing between 50 and 90 dollars. But Dean found free security software that’s on par with the best. To fight viruses: AntiVir from Free-dash-A-V-dot-com. To prevent spyware: Windows Defender from Microsoft.com. And to stop spam: Spamfighter Standard from Spamfighter.com.
You also want to protect against phishing. These emails look like they come from banks and other companies, but are actually lures to gain access to your accounts.
Dean Gallea, of Consumer Reports, says “Never click on links in e-mails that go to banks or other sites that have your personal information.”
Instead, type the company’s Web address into your browser.  For more your computer security, download free anti-phishing software, such as the McAfee Site Advisor, this warns when you go to a dangerous site.

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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Configure Internet Explorer Security

Computer security is a major issue. And the only place from where these ugly spyware and viruses enter into our computer is Internet. Despite of having computer security and antivirus support, it would be a better if you have browser security as well. That’s quite simple in Microsoft Internet Explorer.

 

Internet Explorer offers four different zones to help you classify security level depending on how well you know or trust the site: Trusted, Restricted, Internet and Intranet or Local.

 

Follow the tips -

  1. Click on Tools on the menu bar at the top of Internet Explorer
  2. Click on Internet Options from the Tools drop-down menu
  3. When Internet Options opens up, click on the Security tab
  4. Internet Explorer begins by categorizing sites into Internet, Local Intranet, Trusted Site or Restricted Site zones. You can specify the security settings for each zone. Select the zone you wish to configure.
  5. You can use the Default Level button to select from the pre-defined security settings Microsoft set up in Internet Explorer. See Tips for details of each setting.
  6. MEDIUM is most appropriate for the majority of Internet surfing. It has safeguards against malicious code, but is not so restrictive as to prohibit you from viewing most web sites.
  7. You can also click on the Custom Level button and alter individual settings, starting with one of the Default levels as a baseline and then changing specific settings.

If you are still facing problems... then just ring us on 1800602586 and visit Click here.

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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Virus Protection for Computers

Computer security... No one thinks twice when they have computers. There is no question that everyone needs to protect their computers from viruses, but the installation of antivirus and spyware blocker can be paid and free.

There are some things which you yourself can do to your computer to keep it safe and secure from viruses and hackers. But if you still mess up with things, you can reach me at 1800602586, anytime. You can always look out for the free antivirus software, but make sure that you are choosing the best. Simply keep the following steps in mind while choosing automated anti-virus protection.

 

  • Stay Up-to-date: This not only applies to your anti-virus software, but also your operating system, browser and email client. Most viruses take advantage of known security problems in your computer’s software. There is almost always a patch available for the software before viruses appear on the scene that takes advantage of the vulnerabilities. If you use Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office, Windows Update and Office Update respectively provide an easy way to keep up-to-date with security patches.
  • Use Common Sense: This may sound little rude, but most virus infections wouldn’t happen if the computer user would think about what they are doing and use a little common sense. If you get a strange looking email message delete it instead of opening it to satisfy your curiosity. If a message, even a normal looking one, has an attachment you were not expecting to receive, don’t click on it to see what it is. Much of the secret to safe computing is smart computing.
  • Don’t Follow the Crowd: Almost all viruses use flaws or features of Microsoft products. Using alternative software, especially Web browsers and email programs will thwart most viruses. Mozilla is good choice for both Web browser and email client. Using a non-Microsoft operating system such as Linux can also be a good choice for some. These measures won't prevent all viruses but they will greatly improve your chances of not becoming infected with the most prevalent viruses. 
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Monday, April 13, 2009

Windows Live OneCare – Computer Security

Windows Live OneCare is a security suite by Microsoft. Most of us don’t use Windows Live OneCare but it has the basic computer security features and more, since the time was launched. Now it has improved PC security features which are really useful. Now it has Anti-Identity theft, easy to configure centralized Data backup, and the most important Virus and spyware blocker. The most notable feature of it all is being able to control 3 PC’s at once.

It’s easy to install Windows Live OneCare. I am installing it on my Windows Vista operating system. I am assuming that the process would be almost same in other versions of Microsoft windows xp and Microsoft windows vista.

  After launching the Live OneCare installation process it checks for updates. Then the rest of the setup starts. The first option is to select language and then it provides description of the software suite. Click Next.

After that you are prompted to read and accept the terms of use. And just after accepting those terms of use, the installation will start. It may take more than 10 minutes if you have slow internet connection.

Then it will reboot after loading everything.

Upon returning you will get a welcome screen of sorts.  Here you can choose to go with step 1 which will require you to purchase a license ($49.95) or go with the limited trial which is what I have selected.  Since this is my first experience with Windows Live OneCare I want to test everything out during the 90 day trial which I feel is the right decision before investing money.

Just after the confirmation, Windows Live OneCare is on a roll and working!

The next settings to pop up you may recall selecting when first installing Vista.  OneCare wants to choose the type of network connection the PC is connected to.The Windows Live OneCare control center is where to change settings, run scans, and associate other security tasks.

Windows Live OneCare Settings allow you to configure various aspects of how different protection components work.

One of the schedulable features is a PC tune-up.  This will perform typical maintenance tasks like defragmenting the Hard Drive, Scan for Viruses, and check for security updates from Microsoft.

There will be advisories that tell you about Security Updates from Microsoft which are still not installed on your Computer.  These provide a brief detailed description of the update and also allow you to connect to the Microsoft website to get even more information.

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Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Password Security For your computer security

The biggest mistake which most of us make is that that we make our personal details use as a password, so that we won’t forget that and that would be easy for us to remember what our password was. But, forgetting the main issue that others as well are aware of our details. We tend to forget our passwords so we use simple things like our pets name, or a combination of our last name and birthday, which is really easy to crack. It’s really very easy for a hacker, who has gained the access to your computer, to get the details and crack your passwords.

Computer security is must for everyone no matter which operating system you use, whether its Microsoft windows xp or Microsoft windows vista. In any case computer should be protected by antivirus software’s.

 

Things to remember while you are creating a password for your operating system, your mail account or banking account.

 

  • Never use your personal information in your password, as it is damn easy for anyone to crack your password. Never use your child’s name or your spouse name, your address.

 

  • Do not use real words as your passwords, as it may also land you in trouble. There are tools available in the market which hackers use to crack your password.

 

  • Always use different characters in your password. That will increase your password strength and more secure. You can use mixture of alphabets of lower case and upper case, combining them with numbers and special characters like $ , & or *.

 

  • It’s is preferable to use a password management tool. Just another way to store and remember passwords securely by using password managing tools which are available in the market. These tools maintain a list of usernames and passwords in encrypted form. Some will even automatically fill in the username and password information on sites and applications.

 

  • Change your password after every 30 to 60 days. And you should use different username and password for different applications. And it s advisable to use unique usernames and more secure passwords on sites such as your bank or credit card companies. You should not use the same password at least for a year.                                                                                          
  • Enforce stronger passwords: Rather than relying on every user of the computer to understand and follow the instructions above, you can configure Microsoft Windows password policies so that Windows will not accept passwords that don't meet the minimum requirements. 
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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Computer security

Whether you are using a computer at your office or at your home.. whatever it is , computer security is must. Make sure your computer is save from viruses and spywares. It is very easy for hackers to hack your computer and get your all details and use them in their favor. Here are some tips for computer security -

 

è The most important is installing anti-virus software. There are many antivirus  and spyware removal deals and packages are available in the market. There are free services and paid services as well. These services check and scan your computer periodically and make sure you are maintaining your antivirus software. As there are so many viruses which are being discovered every day. Better keep an eye on it and check updates from your antivirus software vendor.

è The other important factor is the spam mails you receive in your mail box. It’s better not to open those emails as they contain virus. They attempt to trick you into becoming a participant in the process. The latest viruses can “spoof” the sending email address so that it looks like it is coming from someone other than the computer that infected it.

è If the sender is unknown then don’t open that email, better delete it, if you were really want to check it and read the message..Don’t click any link or download any attachment as the chances are that they are viruses in it.

è Keep your computer patched against known vulnerabilities. Almost as often as new viruses are discovered, new vulnerabilities are discovered as well. Many times they are in the operating system (like Windows), but vulnerabilities are also found in tools like your web browser, email software and other 3rd party tools. Left unpatched, these vulnerabilities can be exploited by hackers to obtain access and control of your computer.

Make sure you stay updated with the new updates which are being provided by your vendor. If your computer is not secure...hackers can hack it nay time… May be they are actually peeping into your computer or laptop. Keep a check on your computer security and maintain your PC- health.

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