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Top 5 dangerous places scare your online security
You've been warned that the Internet is something of a security minefield--that it's easy to get in trouble. You can do everything you can think of to protect yourself and still be taken by a malware infection, a phishing scam, or an invasion of on¬¬line privacy. We'd like to provide a little help. Here are some of the hazards you may encounter, how dangerous they are, and what you can do to stay out of harm's way.
Threat 1: Trojan horses disguised as video codecs, infecting your PC with malware
The Place: Video download sites, peer-to-peer networks
If you watch or download video online, you've likely been told to download a video codec--a small piece of software that provides support for a type of video file--at least once. Usually, these bits of software are perfectly legitimate (for example, the popular DivX codec), but some less-than-reputable download services or video sites may direct you to download a piece of malware disguised as a codec. Security software company Trend Micro provides a good example of what these attacks look like.
If You Have to Go There: Your safest option is to stick with well-known video sites such as YouTube and Vimeo. And for catching up on the latest episodes of your favorite TV shows, sites and services like Hulu, TV.com, ABC.com, and iTunes are safer than peer-to-peer networks.
Threat 2: Shortened links that lead you to potentially harmful places
The Place: Twitter
Scammers love Twitter since it relies so much on URL shorteners, services that take long Internet addresses and replace them with something briefer.
And it's very simple to hide malware or scams behind shortened URLs. A shortened link that supposedly points to the latest Internet trend-du-jour may be a Trojan horse in disguise.
If You Have to Go There: Simply don't click links. Of course, that takes some of the fun out of Twitter. The other option is to use a Twitter client app. TweetDeck and Tweetie for Mac have preview features that let you see the full URL before you go to the site in question.
Some link-shortening services, such as Bit.ly, attempt to filter out malicious links, but it seems to be a manual process, not an automatic one. TinyURL has a preview service you can turn on.
Threat 3: E-mail scams or attachments that get you to install malware or give up personal info
The Place: Your e-mail inbox
Although phishing and infected e-mail attachments are nothing new, the lures that cybercrooks use are constantly evolving, and in some cases they're becoming more difficult to distinguish from legitimate messages. My junk mailbox has a phishing e-mail that looks like a legitimate order confirmation from Amazon. The only hint that something's amiss is the sender's e-mail address.
If You Have to Go There: Don't trust anything in your inbox. Instead of clicking on links in a retailer's e-mail, go directly to the retailer's site.
Threat 4: Malware hiding in video, music, or software downloads
The Place: Torrent sites
Torrent sites (such as BitTorrent) are often used for sharing pirated music, videos, or software, and are a trove of malware. No one vets the download files--they may be malware in disguise.
Ben Edelman, privacy researcher and assistant professor at Harvard Business School, thinks torrent sites are the most dangerous places to visit, since they don't have a business model or reputation to defend (by comparison, many porn sites rely on being deemed trustworthy). "The [torrent] customers, they really don't want to pay," he says.
If You Have to Go There: It's probably best to avoid torrent sites entirely, given their untrustworthy content, but if you must visit, use a secondary PC to protect your main system. Use antivirus software, and keep it up¬¬dated. Scan downloaded files and wait a couple of days be¬¬fore opening them. Brand-new malware can be tricky to catch, but the delay in opening may allow your antivirus software to get the necessary signatures.
Threat 5: Malicious video files using flaws in player software to hijack PCs
The Place: Video download sites
Attackers have been known to exploit flaws in video players such as QuickTime Player and use them to attack PCs. The threats are often "malformed" video files that, like malicious PDFs, trigger bugs in the player software that let the attackers in to spy on you, plant other malware, and more.
If You Have to Go There:Keep your player software up-to-date. Apple and Microsoft periodically release patches for QuickTime and Windows Media Player, respectively. Avoid downloading videos at random. Stick to well-known video sites such as YouTube, or to download services like iTunes.If you want to get different format videos on your ipad , choose a clean and safe video converter like professional video to ipad converter software.
Threat 1: Trojan horses disguised as video codecs, infecting your PC with malware
The Place: Video download sites, peer-to-peer networks
If you watch or download video online, you've likely been told to download a video codec--a small piece of software that provides support for a type of video file--at least once. Usually, these bits of software are perfectly legitimate (for example, the popular DivX codec), but some less-than-reputable download services or video sites may direct you to download a piece of malware disguised as a codec. Security software company Trend Micro provides a good example of what these attacks look like.
If You Have to Go There: Your safest option is to stick with well-known video sites such as YouTube and Vimeo. And for catching up on the latest episodes of your favorite TV shows, sites and services like Hulu, TV.com, ABC.com, and iTunes are safer than peer-to-peer networks.
Threat 2: Shortened links that lead you to potentially harmful places
The Place: Twitter
Scammers love Twitter since it relies so much on URL shorteners, services that take long Internet addresses and replace them with something briefer.
And it's very simple to hide malware or scams behind shortened URLs. A shortened link that supposedly points to the latest Internet trend-du-jour may be a Trojan horse in disguise.
If You Have to Go There: Simply don't click links. Of course, that takes some of the fun out of Twitter. The other option is to use a Twitter client app. TweetDeck and Tweetie for Mac have preview features that let you see the full URL before you go to the site in question.
Some link-shortening services, such as Bit.ly, attempt to filter out malicious links, but it seems to be a manual process, not an automatic one. TinyURL has a preview service you can turn on.
Threat 3: E-mail scams or attachments that get you to install malware or give up personal info
The Place: Your e-mail inbox
Although phishing and infected e-mail attachments are nothing new, the lures that cybercrooks use are constantly evolving, and in some cases they're becoming more difficult to distinguish from legitimate messages. My junk mailbox has a phishing e-mail that looks like a legitimate order confirmation from Amazon. The only hint that something's amiss is the sender's e-mail address.
If You Have to Go There: Don't trust anything in your inbox. Instead of clicking on links in a retailer's e-mail, go directly to the retailer's site.
Threat 4: Malware hiding in video, music, or software downloads
The Place: Torrent sites
Torrent sites (such as BitTorrent) are often used for sharing pirated music, videos, or software, and are a trove of malware. No one vets the download files--they may be malware in disguise.
Ben Edelman, privacy researcher and assistant professor at Harvard Business School, thinks torrent sites are the most dangerous places to visit, since they don't have a business model or reputation to defend (by comparison, many porn sites rely on being deemed trustworthy). "The [torrent] customers, they really don't want to pay," he says.
If You Have to Go There: It's probably best to avoid torrent sites entirely, given their untrustworthy content, but if you must visit, use a secondary PC to protect your main system. Use antivirus software, and keep it up¬¬dated. Scan downloaded files and wait a couple of days be¬¬fore opening them. Brand-new malware can be tricky to catch, but the delay in opening may allow your antivirus software to get the necessary signatures.
Threat 5: Malicious video files using flaws in player software to hijack PCs
The Place: Video download sites
Attackers have been known to exploit flaws in video players such as QuickTime Player and use them to attack PCs. The threats are often "malformed" video files that, like malicious PDFs, trigger bugs in the player software that let the attackers in to spy on you, plant other malware, and more.
If You Have to Go There:Keep your player software up-to-date. Apple and Microsoft periodically release patches for QuickTime and Windows Media Player, respectively. Avoid downloading videos at random. Stick to well-known video sites such as YouTube, or to download services like iTunes.If you want to get different format videos on your ipad , choose a clean and safe video converter like professional video to ipad converter software.
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