This past week, two pop-ups happened while I was browsing on my laptop. Since last year I got some nasty malware, I decided to write about ways we can avoid getting malware in the first place!
Avoiding Malware Tip #1:
Don’t open up cute little attachments that people send you in email.
Many times these cute little applications work, but they are really trojan horses in that fact that they show and run something cute, but at the same time they install a real trojan virus (that’s why they call it a trojan or trojan horse) on your computer allowing hackers to access your system without you knowing it.
Avoiding Malware Tip #2:
Have you ever visited a web site, then go to leave and a pop up occurs stating that you have a virus and to click here to remedy the problem, or a pop up that says anything… For example, “Are you sure you want to navigate from this page” or any pop up really…?
The following is what I do when the above happens:
- Press “Ctrl-Alt-Delete’, select the Application (Internet Explorer or Firefox in this case)
- Click the “End Task” button at bottom of the pop-up window.
- When you go back into your browser, select go to home page instead of restoring the last session.
My Top 7 Favorite Reads of the Week:
Watson Inc: Do Rich Parents Matter Round Up? – Shawn discover and post about an intriguing study about the mental abilities in young kids and different socioeconomic environments. I think poorer kids get less attention and therefore less exposure to mental developmental games and tools.
MoneySmartLife: Best Tax Breaks 2011 – This guest post by Miranda reminds us of the tax changes that go in effect this year (2011). I’m sad to see the child tax credit is being reduced to $500 this year, down from $1,000.
First Gen American: Bad Tenant Incidents and Lessons Learned – Horror stories about being a landlord! These stories are very entertaining and scary at the same time!
Financial Samurai: Most People Make A Lot More Money Than You Think – At one time, I wouldn’t entertain this article by Sam, but now I’m a convert. Check it out and see if he convinces you too!
Everyday Tips and Thoughts: More Great Financial Advice From the Media “Don’t Rush To Pay Off Your Mortgage” – This post all comes down to the old saying “Don’t believe everything that you read”. The article also reflects that just because an article gets published in a bigger, more well know website, doesn’t mean that quality.
Consumerism Commentary: Jeremy Siegel’s Economic Outlook for 2011 – Flexo pointed out this great article that has a video of Professor Siegel voicing why he thinks that 2011 will be a good year for the stock market. I admit, the video changed my views on the stock market and I bought some more dividend stocks.
Budgeting in the Fun Stuff: Our Stock Portfolio – Crystal has a great dividend portfolio, but I read between the lines and realize what a great spousal relationship Crystal has with her husband! It even inspired me to write an article that include her relationship in it.
My Favorite Post from Money Reasons:
My favorite post of the week was Sometimes Free Is Better. I especially like this one because often we overlook great opportunities and free stuff just because were are let to believe that there is no free lunch. But there is and it’s good!
-MR
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Thanks for mentioning the tax breaks post! Another type of malware that bloggers should watch out for is malware that gets embedded in your site.
If you don’t update your CMS regularly the security holes expose you to having malware installed that can redirect your visitors to other sites.
Thanks for the tip Ben!
It’s starting to get hard to do anything on the computer anymore without getting something. It’s getting sad…
I hate those stupid popups that use double-negative, reverse psychology logic to close.
Thanks for the mention!!
Me too, and some of them do infect your system… so it’s dangerous to do anything with them!!!
I guess we could set our browsers to disable pop ups. Another option would be to cold boot the computer right then and there, but that seems harsh to me…
I went for several years without anti-virus software and had no problems…mostly because I did exactly what you said above.
Now I run Avast (Free) for security. It works excellently and I haven’t had any problems.
Always practice safe computing. 😉
I even wear latex gloves when I type (lol).
I’m with you, I use Avast (Free version) too, and it’s been great! I still don’t take chances though… I use to use AVG, and it’s okay, but Avast seems to detect bogus sites quicker!
Malware sometimes can look so real! There was one which has a picture of file explorer and a fast scan happening on it with ‘virus detected’ flashing! Very realistic, except it is just a gif animation!
Nice roundup!
Yeah, I hate some of the clever things nasty people come up with!
That is now obvious, but such Malware could be even in “Do you want to continue” or similar pop ups…
Unfortunately, my computer got a virus recently from a download. I knew I should have been more careful but thought that the website looked reputable.
BTW, thanks for the link
Yeah, I got one last year by clicking the pop-up… I knew better… it was a moment of weakness.
I learned that the hard way! One of my cures is Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. It is free, you do not need to subscribe.
Funny you mention that, I had to use a freshly minted bootable CD with antivirus packaged Avast and Malwarebytes software to remove the trojan that I somehow caught.
I hope these tips prevents others from going through a similar process…
There is nothing worse than when your computer gets a virus, and it can even happen from innocuous things, like one time I got a nasty computer virus from trying to watch a movie trailer at imdb. Thanks for the reminder to try our best to avoid them, although like avoiding real viruses, all you can do is try your hardest to prevent.
Wow I never heard of IMDB having viruses! I love that site, but I haven’t watch any movie trailer on the site before.
Thanks for the tip!
There are a few out there, but I use NoScript as an extension of my browser. It prevents anything and everything pop-up that pop-up blocker fails to catch.
Only problem is ALL sites use scripts, so you have to make a lot of exceptions!
Yeah, it’s almost a necessary evil anymore…