How To Prevent Viruses,Spyware And Adware

The internet is not a safe place when it comes to protecting your information and identity. A good thing to keep in mind is that anything you click or download has the potential to be something that it wasn’t advertised as.

The following are some simple yet powerful tips to helping you stay safe online:

Tip #1 – Supervise anyone using your computer, especially kids and anyone who doesn’t really know there way around the internet. Although you may know how to avoid malicious programs, younger kids and the non-savvy are still naive to some of the tricks and are more susceptible to clicking or downloading something they shouldn’t and infect your PC.

Tip #2 – When you receive a popup never click on the “Yes”, “No” or “Cancel” buttons. Even though you click no or cancel, some can be programmed to still install something nasty on your machine. Always try closing using the “Red X “, but beware because some popups will have a “Red X” inside the window that still can infect you. These are easy to spot because there are to “Red X” almost on top of each other.

Tip #3 – Avoid popups saying you are possibly infected or you need to clean your registry. These are ads to get you to download there software that usually place unwanted software on your system.

Tip #4 – Some popups are really clever and will disable the “Red X” and try to force you to click on “Yes” or “No”. But, you can still outsmart those. Simply press Ctrl-Alt-Delete to open the task manager and either close the offending window or the browser entirely. Once again, better safe than sorry.

Tip #5 – Know what ant-virus, anti-spyware, anti-adware, programs are on your system. Generally if it is a legit threat, the name of your program will be at the top of the window. Also, as a general rule, even if it says it’s one of your programs but looks different than normal, go with the better safe than sorry approach and don’t go for it.

Tip #6 – Do not believe pop up ads that claim they can speed up your computer by running software placed in the pop up window. Most will look like something has optimized your system and shows you how much of an improvement you will get by clicking ok.

Tip #7 – Avoid free XXX sites. Some will insist that you have to download and install a special video codec. The supposed “codec” will come up in a pop up window. If you need a codec or driver, generally it will just say that you need it and give you a link to a site where you download the software and install it. Such as Divx, Xvid, Flash, etc.

Tip #8 – Download software from well trusted and known sites. Such as download.com, etc. Users comment on how the program is and generally someone will state if it comes with adware.

Tip #9 – Avoid installing unwanted adware. Many freeware programs will come packaged with a browser bar or similar. Most reputable programs will warn you of this where you can opt-out of installing, but, if you can not, you shouldn’t trust the software until reading up on it. Some reputable software authors will ask you to install a bar to compensate for there work to allow the program to be made available at no cost.

Tip #10 – Google is your friend. If you suspect something may be spyware or other another unwanted program, find out what other people say about it. A simple search in Google such as “suspected program adware” or “suspected program spyware” or even “suspected program scam”. Of course, replace suspected program with the program in question. And don’t always believe the first thing you see. The makers of these malicious programs will place good reviews of the programs. If one post goes on and on about how great the program is and the majority of the other posts say that its bad, trust the majority. General users don’t go around writing entire articles of how great it is, but rather just state the facts.

Tip #11 – Display all your file extensions. Go to “My Computer”, select “Tools”, “Folder Options” and make sure the box that says “Hide extensions for known file types” is unchecked. Virus makers will sometimes name a file something like virus.gif.exe. With the extension hidden, it will just look like virus.gif in your window, while in reality you will run an executable file when you click on it and infect yourself.

Tip #12 – In this age where everyone and their mother send instant messages to each other, it is not a coincidence that adware makers are jumping onto this too. 99% of all the free emoticon packs have adware packaged with them. It’s almost a guarantee that they will add a toolbar to your browser or infect you with adware in one way or another.

Tip #13 – Don’t trust anyone you just meet on the internet. With a lot of people meeting on Facebook, MySpace and other social networking sites, it is hard to weed out the good from the bad. Generally the bad will always send you a link somewhere else to look at there pictures, and then when you get to that site you realize you have to sign up for something free. These people are paid by having people sign up on these sites so that they gather information on you. This is very typical of matchmaking sites and free cam web sites.

Tip #14 – Pay attention to the way your computer behaves. If all of a sudden you’re once “perfect running system” starts behaving differently then normal without your doing, you may very well be infected. Some examples are pop-ups while not browsing the net, unexpected shutdowns, system resources crashing continuously, or anything out of the norm could mean your computer is no longer under only your control. Now is the time to get defensive also and run trusted anti-spyware and anti-virus programs on your computer.

Common sense and knowing what you are up against is the #1 defense in avoiding getting unwanted software unknowingly installed on your system. The creators of these programs always try and stay one step ahead of the anti-virus creators and are always coming up with ways to bypass them.