Received in an Email
My computer guy saw yesterday's post and emailed further suggestions to me. I pass them along as a public service:
"Don't click OK or CANCEL on pop-ups that are telling you that you are infected or that your hard drive has a problem or is full. These guys are social engineering you to basically give them permission to install their software which is actually malware. If it is not something you installed, don't believe it. Kill it with TASK MANAGER and END TASK. Even though the wording may act like hitting OK will get you out or CANCEL will stop whatever is happening, they are the ones to put the code behind what that button does. It's not a Windows (MS) function, it's their code and they are trying to get permission to install whatever they want.
"Surf smart, watch your URLs (addresses). Like how you noticed that scottrade was going where it was supposed to...AND that even though it was a scottrade layout, it was a different URL.
"Might mentions COUPON sites are dangerous.
"Double up on Anti-virus/anti-spyware...Make sure Windows Updates are on. Update apps like Adobe,Flash, Quicktime, Java...These updates add functionality but also close holes.
"Update to Firefox/Chrome/IE 8...I have no direct proof but IE8 is supposedly more secure...Firefox used to be but I think as it has gotten more popular it has been exploited more.
"Update to Windows 7 - If you believe the hype...Older operating
systems like XP are more vulnerable because they have been around longer and the holes are more well known...In reality this is ridiculous that you have to update to the newest just to avoid holes but what options do you have?
"Switch to the Mac/iPad (no I'm not an Apple fanboy) but they are not as targeted as Windows."
