Viruses are programs designed to infect and take over our computer files. The purposes of a virus creators are always more or less the same: stealing sensitive data (credit card data, personal email, passwords and user names), corrupting (changing system data for further malicious purposes), deleting (deleting system and other important files) or just for fun – especially when the computer is located in Pentagon or other military facility behind a dozen of firewalls. How does a virus penetrate our system? What are the most popular ways to infect our system? Let’s look at the two most common.
Many people have e-mail addresses and e-mails and will be happy to communicate online. But e-mails can hide some sort of danger. Sometimes users get messages about recently modified online banking login. They are asked to go to the page and enter their log in password or other personal information. Often these letters have the same look and feel like they really sent by the companies or banks. All this is a part of a hacker’s attempt to extract personal information, often for the purpose of subsequent financial crime, like stolen identity usage when requesting a loan. No company, involved in online business will ever ask you re-enter personal data in this way. Often, such messages can be identified looking at the page address. At best, the URL address will be similar to reliable companies’ and yet will have one or two additional or lacking symbols, at worst – a jumble of numbers and letters. One will be able to identify a fake address examining closer the URL. The simplest method of prevention is not opening pages in which e – criminals try to make the user to enter their personal data. Most recent web browsers have additional measures to verify that the opened page is secure against phishing attacks. This is another reason to use the new versions of browsers.
Modern program consists of thousands of lines of programming code, and for one reason or another that code can be accessory error (called bug), which allows third parties to compromise a user’s data or the entire system. Programs that use the internet connection are more or less vulnerable. A popular Internet chat program Skype is a frequent target for different pests and it is necessary to use the latest version of the program for the security sake. This rule also applies to other programs, such as Web browsers (Firefox or Internet Explorer). The program checks whether a newer version is released, and requests to download updates. Newer versions of software not only provide new features and capabilities, but also correct errors and bugs in the same software.
Many modern operating systems have built-in firewall.
Firewalls are programs protecting internet users from intruders and malicious programs. They perform accurate online traffic filtering, checking all the information between the user’s computer and the Internet. The firewall may be configured to remember the programs that can connect without limitations to the Internet, as well as block the programs that can retrieve information from the Internet and which should be forbidden any contact with the network. If some kind of program is trying to connect to the Internet, and the firewall cannot identify it, the user is given the question of whether to allow this program to make the connection. Free software enthusiasts and home users often prefer ZoneAlarm. The free version is available in the internet, just Google “zone alarm” and you will be given a lot of options to download the application from. This firewall, just like antivirus and antispyware software, operates in the background and checks all data transfers of programs between a computer and Internet.
Cyber-world opportunities are expanding, and the number of hijacking computers is increasing as well. It is therefore necessary to use the latest tools to combat intrusions and information theft. Computer operational systems should be regularly updated, not even mentioning antivirus, antispyware and firewall programs. Follow these simple rules and you will have a more secure PC system that will retain its identity.