The Necessary Evil... Virus Protection!
Part 2 - Hackers/Scammers are relentless and no virus protection in the world can catch everything. The best prevention is being mindful of where you go on the Internet as well as what you open in your email. Here are some tips when working on the Internet. This is a continuation of Part 1.
First and foremost, keep your browser, applications and operating security patches up-to-date. This not only includes your Windows/Apple Operating system, it is just as important (if not more so) to update applications like Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Flash, and Java! Not only do updates fix problems with the software, they often plug security holes. Updating web browsing applications like Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome is important as well. As many of you know, these upgrades can cause problems but it often solves more issues than it creates.
Search vs. Direct Address
Often people type the website name or search term in the search box. Actually, this is a good thing to do as search engines like Google, Yahoo or Bing will correct your spelling and will do a basic check to see if the site is safe (assuming you haven't changed the default settings). Typing a web address directly in the address bar is fine unless you mistype the address. Doing so will often land you at a bogus website. Let's say you are looking to have dinner at Joe Mamas. Doing a Google search for Joe Mama will give you numerous results -- everything from YouTube videos to Yo Mama jokes -- buried in the results might actually be the site you're looking for. Conversely, if you simply type the web address of www.joemamas.com in the address bar you will be taken to the legitimate website you were probably looking for. On the other hand, if you mistakenly type www.joemama.com (leaving off the s) you will be taken to a bogus website. I suggest you visit www.joemama.com (it is safe) and will give you a good illustration of what a bogus website looks like (do not click any links on the site just to be safe). You will notice that the website doesn't have a nice design and is just a smattering of links and words they think you might be looking for.
There are thousands of bogus websites just like www.joemama.com that are setup to use your search terms and provide links to seemingly pertinent information. These websites often link to sites trying to get you to buy something from them, get you to enter personal information or download malware or viruses. Most virus protection software offers assistance in recognizing bogus websites. Webroot for example will provide a green check mark before the search result on known good sites.
Here are some tips to help you recognize bogus websites. The next time you are not completely confident that you are on a legitimate website or that an email you received is valid, check for these signs:
- Uses an incorrect URL -- Always double check to make sure that the site address is accurate.
- Asks for banking information—A real bank would never ask for your bank account information or your debit card and PIN number or information that is beyond your standard login.
- Includes misspelled words—If a bank asks you to log in to your “acccount,” this is pretty good clue that you’ve stumbled upon a bogus email or fake website. Real companies have staff proof reading.
- Is not a secure site -- Legitimate e-commerce sites use encryption to help ensure your login, password and payment information is secure. You can see if a site uses encryption by looking for a lock symbol in the address bar. Clicking on the lock symbol allows you to verify that a security certificate was issued to that site.You should also check that the address starts with “https://” rather than just “http://”. Never enter payment information on any site that isn’t secure.
- Poorly designed site - Scammers usually erect fake sites quickly and this usually shows in the quality of the sites. If it has a poor design or layout this could mean that the site is bogus.
Protecting Yourself
While these tips will go a long way in helping you identify phishing and bogus sites, keep in mind that the scammers are always looking for ways to make their scams more convincing.
- Educate yourself -- Read up on the latest scams so you know what to lookout for. Be familiar with what a phishing attempt looks like (see Part 1) so you can recognize common tricks when you see them.
- Use commonsense -- Read your emails carefully, checking to make sure you know the sender, and be suspicious of any email that asks for your personal or financial information. Also be very cautious when downloading any attachments or files from an email, unless you know and trust the sender.
- Practice smart browsing -- When on a website, make sure that the site is secure before you enter any information. If you have any doubts, enter a fake password, since bogus site will accept false information. You may also want to use a search engine (like Google, Bing or Yahoo) to help you locate sites since they can catch misspellings, and prevent you from landing on fake websites.
Finally, the part you have been waiting for... Virus protection recommendations. Keep in mind NOTHING is perfect and there are NO guarantees with any software. But running with nothing on a Windows computer is foolish... and contrary to popular belief, Apple computers are NOT immune either.
Protection for Windows
For stand alone computers I recommend Webroot Internet Security. Although Symantec is starting to recover after spending a great deal of time at the bottom after creating more problems than they solved, I prefer Webroot since it is fast and lightweight. If you have a need for Business protection (file servers, etc) I still recommend Kaspersky Business Security. If you absolutely can't afford virus protection I would suggest at least installing Microsoft Security Essentials or Avast! Free for Windows.
Protection for Apple OS X
Here is an excellent article outlining protection for Apple OS X. It is fairly technical in nature but has a lot of well thought out explanations of why protection is generally not necessary and provides recommendations and even offers recommended software. If I had to pick one I would go with Avast! for the Mac. But generally, you do not need virus protection if you keep your computer up-to-date and are mindful when using email and browsing the web.
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