Top 12 Computer Threats
January 3rd, 2009 | by admin |Top 12 Computer Threats
I’ve researched and written about this several times over the last few months, yet I’m drawn to it again.
Internet safety. It is not a joke. Ignore it and your computer could suffer dire consequences.
From Trojans to adware to viruses – all of us, as responsible computer users, need to be aware of what’s lurking in the dark corners of the Internet. International blogger Kai Chandler recently published a list of the Top 12 Threats No Computer User Should Ignore. Today, I’m passing it on with hopes it will keep your computer threat-free.
1. Viruses – A computer program that copies itself. They often disrupt your computer system or damage your data. Viruses are usually received by email attachments so be careful opening anything from a dubious source.
2. Spyware – Sends information about you and your computer to somebody else. Spyware may send the addresses of sites you have visited or worse still, transmit personal information. With today’s concerns about identify theft this is a real worry.
3. IP Spoofing – A technique to gain unauthorized access to computers, whereby the intruder sends messages to a computer with an address indicating that the message is coming from a trusted host.
4. Trojans – An apparently legitimate computer program that is really intended to disrupt and damage computer activity by sending information, perhaps even passwords onto a third party without you knowing.
5. Spam – Unsolicited mail often promoting products of a dubious financial or sexual nature. Don’t leave your email address on websites and Internet bulletin boards as they are harvested by spammers.
6. Adware – puts advertisements on your screen. These take many forms including popups, popunders and advertisements that appear later, even if your browser is closed. Some are sent using the Windows Messenger service which allows a spammer to direct an advertisement straight to your computer by sequentially sending messages to IP addresses.
7. Dialers – for those of us still with dial up modems, dialer programs redirect calls to a very expensive number.
8. Hijackers – Hijackers take control of your web browser and may reset your home page, search bar and search pages.
They can redirect you to undesirable sites or stop you going to particular sites.
9. Hackers – With so much personal data available online to anyone with a password you must be sure your password is secure. If you are using your mother’s maiden name, your cat’s name or your birthday then your password is at risk.
10. Phishing – Emails purporting to come from reliable sources such as Paypal, Ebay or your bank. Often wanting you to verify your account details, they can look very realistic but are generally scams to harvest usernames and passwords. Always open a new browser winder and type the address there, rather than clicking on the link provided.
11. Hoaxes – Chain letters, scams, false alarms. At best they take up time and bandwidth but at worst vulnerable can be victims of fraud.
12. Stranger-danger – For those of us with children – do you know what they actually do when they are online? Are they working on homework tasks, downloading illegal music or pornography? Or are they chatting to strangers in chat rooms? You should consider blocking access to undesirable sites and logging their activity with a surveillance tool.