How to Protect Your Computers From Malware

Malware includes viruses, spyware, and other unwanted software that gets installed on your computer or mobile device without your consent. These programs can cause your device to crash, and can be used to monitor and control your online activity. They also can make your computer vulnerable to viruses and deliver unwanted or inappropriate ads. Criminals use malware to steal personal information, send spam, and commit fraud.

Avoid Malware

Scam artists try to trick people into clicking on links that will download viruses, spyware, and other unwanted software — often by bundling it with popular free downloads. To reduce your risk of downloading malware:

• Install and update security software, and use a firewall. Set your security software, internet browser, and operating system (like Windows or Mac OS X) to update automatically.
• Don’t change your browser’s security settings. You can minimize "drive-by" or bundled downloads if you keep your browser’s default security settings.
• Pay attention to your browser’s security warnings. Many browsers come with built-in security scanners that warn you before you visit an infected webpage or download a malicious file.
• Instead of clicking on a link in an email, type the URL of a trusted site directly into your browser. Criminals send emails that appear to be from companies you know and trust. The links may look legitimate, but clicking on them could download malware or send you to a scam site.
• Don’t open attachments in emails unless you know who sent it and what it is. Opening the wrong attachment — even if it seems to be from friends or family — can install malware on your computer.
• Get well-known software directly from the source. Sites that offer lots of different browsers, PDF readers, and other popular software for free are more likely to include malware.
• Read each screen when installing new software. If you don’t recognize a program, or are prompted to install additional “bundled” software, decline the additional program or exit the installation process.
• Don’t click on popups or banner ads about your computer’s performance. Scammers insert unwanted software into banner ads that look legitimate, especially ads about your computer’s health. Avoid clicking on these ads if you don’t know the source.
• Scan USBs and other external devices before using them. These devices can be infected with malware, especially if you use them in high traffic places, like photo printing stations or public computers.
• Talk about safe computing. Tell your friends and family that some online actions can put the computer at risk: clicking on pop-ups, downloading "free" games or programs, opening chain emails, or posting personal information.
• Back up your data regularly. Whether it's your taxes, photos, or other documents that are important to you, back up any data that you'd want to keep in case your computer crashes.

Detect Malware

Monitor your computer for unusual behavior. Your computer may be infected with malware if it:

• slows down, crashes, or displays repeated error messages
• won't shut down or restart
• serves a barrage of pop-ups
• serves inappropriate ads or ads that interfere with page content
• won’t let you remove unwanted software
• injects ads in places you typically wouldn’t see them, such as government websites
• displays web pages you didn't intend to visit, or sends emails you didn't write

Other warning signs of malware include:

• new and unexpected toolbars or icons in your browser or on your desktop
• unexpected changes in your browser, like using a new default search engine or displaying new tabs you didn’t open
• a sudden or repeated change in your computer's internet home page
• a laptop battery that drains more quickly than it should

Get Rid of Malware

If you suspect there is malware on your computer, take these steps:

• Stop shopping, banking, and doing other online activities that involve user names, passwords, or other sensitive information.
• Update your security software, and then scan your computer for viruses and spyware. Delete anything it identifies as a problem. You may have to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
• Check your browser to see if it has tools to delete malware or reset the browser to its original settings.
• If your computer is covered by a warranty that offers free tech support, contact the manufacturer. Before you call, write down the model and serial number of your computer, the name of any software you've installed, and a short description of the problem.
• Many companies — including some affiliated with retail stores — offer tech support.Telephone and online help usually are less expensive, but online search results might not be the best way to find help. Tech support scammers pay to boost their ranking in search results so their websites and phone numbers appear above those of legitimate companies. If you want tech support, look for a company’s contact information on their software package or on your receipt.

5 Biggest Security Breaches of the 21st Century

Security and data breaches are some of the caveats of the internet and all the convenience it offers. Paying bills online, staying connected through social media and donating to our favorite charities could put us at risk for identity theft and fraud. Here are the five top security breaches in the 21st century, based on the number of consumers affected and information stolen:

1.   Yahoo

Occurred: 2013-2014 Reach: 3 billion user accounts

Yahoo was once known as a giant in the internet industry. When preparing for its sale to Verizon in 2016, the mega-corporation announced it had been subject to perhaps the largest security breach in history in 2014. Yahoo claimed the attack was carried out by “a state-sponsored actor.” This breach stole 500 million users’ personal information that could be used in any type of wire and mail fraud scheme, including their real names, birthdates, phone numbers and email addresses. Hackers obtained the information by using an algorithm to determine passwords.

It was later revealed that 1 billion users’ accounts were breached in 2013 by different hackers that also obtained security questions and passwords. In 2017, Yahoo revised the estimated number of affected accounts to all 3 billion of its users at the time.

2.   Adult Friend Finder

Occurred: October 2016 Reach: More than 412. million accounts

Account holders at Adult Friend Finder were searching for casual hookups and adult websites when their information was breached in 2016. The hackers obtained account information gathered over 20 years in the FriendFinder Network databases, including names, birthdates, email addresses and passwords.

3.   eBay

Occurred: May 2014 Reach: 145 million

Hackers obtained all account holders’ names, passwords, addresses and dates of birth by using credentials of three of eBay’s corporate employees. The cybercriminals reportedly had access to the information for 229 days.

Account users were asked to create new passwords for the site and were told that financial information was not compromised in the attack.

4.   Equifax

Occurred: July 2017 Reach: 143 million

The data breach at Equifax affected 143 million consumers – 209,000 of which had credit card information exposed to the hackers. Equifax said the attack likely started in the middle of May 2017 but wasn’t discovered until July 29. This has been one of the largest threats to consumers and increased the threat of wire and mail fraud in the modern century.

5.   Heartland Payment Systems

Occurred: March 2008 Reach: 134 million

Heartland processed 100 million credit card transactions a month for approximately 175,000 smaller retailer merchants. The breach was discovered in 2009 after multiple suspicious transactions were reported by Visa and Mastercard.

The processing company was ordered to pay $145 million back in fraudulent charges and was found to be in violation of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

In 2009, Albert Gonzalez and two Russian accomplices were indicted for stealing the cards in 2009. Gonzalez was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2010.

An Easy Guide to Safely Using Mobile Apps

These days, you’re forced into accepting certain “approval” settings before apps are downloaded to your smartphone. Most of us don’t think twice about it, but have you ever stopped to read what approval the apps are asking for? With the constant threat of malware and viruses, online identity theft, cyberbullying, etc., you must be the master of your destiny by paying attention to small details like app approval settings. If you’re a parent, it’s even more important to understand what your children are signing up for when downloading apps.

According to 2015 data from Pew Research, 73 percent of teens have smartphones, and in 2017 Pew reported that 77 percent of adults have these devices – that makes for a lot of potential cybercrime victims. So what are some quick steps we can take to enhance our own – and our children’s – safety and privacy online?

Don’t Skip the Fine Print

A company’s true intentions are hidden in their fine print. As consumers, we know this, yet it’s something we rarely read; it’s lengthy, dense and confusing. Companies count on this to deter people from taking the time to read it all.

But by taking the time, you’ll probably find that most of your apps have access to your location, age, birthday, phone number and loads of other personal tidbits. In fact, according to CNN, the moment you sign up with a cellphone carrier like Verizon, the carrier is granted access to all of that personal information. It’s not until after you’re set up that you have the option to opt out.

CNN writes, “When you sign up for Verizon service, you agree to let the company use your location, Web searches, app usage and other data…Verizon sends that data to an internal database, matching it up with a deep trove of demographic information about you from companies including data giant Experian.”

Does that sound a little scary? It explains how your recommended internet searches, Amazon purchases, Facebook link clicks and more seem to “know” you so well.

Avoid Third-Party Apps & Unrecognized App Stores

A third-party app is “an application that is provided by a vendor other than the manufacturer of the device,” according to PCMag. Many of these apps are more prone to security vulnerabilities because their developers may not be held to the same security standards as your phone or tablet manufacturer. Particularly if the app is free, the app company makes its “money” by disseminating your information to other parties.

Take control by reading through all of the fine print before downloading apps. Take note of how “spammy” they look as well – if they are free and filled with ads, have broken features and/or load dangerously slowly, be wary. Read reviews left by users and take into account the overall rating of an app before you download it. Try searching for the name of the app’s developer online to glean more insight.

In terms of unrecognized app stores, it’s important to know from where your apps are originating. Ofcom writes, “For example, someone could take a popular paid-for app, add their own illegitimate elements and then offer it for free on ‘bulletin boards’ or ‘peer-to-peer’ networks.” Stick to reputable and well-recognized app stores.

Delete Unused Apps

Even apps that you hardly use can subject you to security vulnerabilities. As long as they’re installed, they don’t need to be running in order to do damage. They can be collecting data in the background. This is why it’s important to delete apps you aren’t using.

Ofcom found that nearly half of apps downloaded are not used on a regular basis. So that chore organizer app or that ab workout app that you haven’t touched in months – delete it!

By deleting unused apps, reading the fine print and avoiding third-party apps and unrecognized app stores, you can dramatically decrease your chances of becoming a victim of cybercrime and manage your online privacy in a relatively easy way.

The Top 10 Things Everybody Googled in 2017

When people want to know the answer to something they invariably Google it. But what have people been Googling in 2017? Google has published various lists detailing what people have Googled over the past 12 months, including overall search terms, consumer tech, and memes.

The Search Terms That Trended in 2017

The first, and most important, list is the one detailing the searches that trended in 2017. This is a heady mix of catastrophic events (Hurricane Irma), big technology launches (iPhone X), celebrities who made the headlines (Matt Lauer and Meghan Markle), and fads (Fidget Spinner).

1) Hurricane Irma 2) iPhone 8 3) iPhone X 4) Matt Lauer 5) Meghan Markle 6) 13 Reasons Why 7) Tom Petty 8) Fidget Spinner 9) Chester Bennington 10) India National Cricket Team

Google’s takeaway from these statistics is the prevalence of “How”. Apparently, more people than ever are Googling how to do something or other, whether it’s “How to make slime” or “How to buy Bitcoin”. Which is good for us, as we pride ourselves in showing people how to use technology.

Amongst the other lists is one detailing the consumer tech search terms that trended in 2017. Apple will be pleased to see the iPhone 8 and iPhone X at the top, but then smartphones make up the bulk of this list. The Nintendo Switch, Xbox One X, and new Nokia 3310 the exceptions.

1) iPhone 8 2) iPhone X 3) Nintendo Switch 4) Samsung Galaxy S8 5) Xbox One X 6) Nokia 3310 7) Razer Phone 8) Oppo F5 9) OnePlus 5 10) Nokia 6

There are 15 lists to scour, with the one listing the biggest memes of the year being particularly worth a look. However, it should be noted that these may not be the terms people have searched for the most in 2017, but that experienced “a high spike in traffic in 2017 as compared to 2016.”

Tips for Using Public Wi-Fi Networks

Wi-Fi hotspots in coffee shops, libraries, airports, hotels, universities, and other public places are convenient, but often they’re not secure. If you connect to a Wi-Fi network, and send information through websites or mobile apps, it might be accessed by someone else. To protect your information when using wireless hotspots, send information only to sites that are fully encrypted, and avoid using mobile apps that require personal or financial information.

How Encryption Works

Encryption is the key to keeping your personal information secure online. Encryption scrambles the information you send over the internet into a code so it’s not accessible to others. When you’re using wireless networks, it’s best to send personal information only if it’s encrypted — either by an encrypted website or a secure Wi-Fi network. An encrypted website protects only the information you send to and from that site. A secure wireless network encrypts all the information you send using that network.

How to Tell If a Website is Encrypted

If you send email, share digital photos and videos, use social networks, or bank online, you’re sending personal information over the internet. The information you share is stored on a server — a powerful computer that collects and delivers content. Many websites, like banking sites, use encryption to protect your information as it travels from your computer to their server.

To determine if a website is encrypted, look for https at the start of the web address (the “s” is for secure). Some websites use encryption only on the sign-in page, but if any part of your session isn’t encrypted, your entire account could be vulnerable. Look for https on every page you visit, not just when you sign in.

What About Mobile Apps?

Unlike websites, mobile apps don’t have a visible indicator like https. Researchers have found that many mobile apps don’t encrypt information properly, so it’s a bad idea to use certain types of mobile apps on unsecured Wi-Fi. If you plan to use a mobile app to conduct sensitive transactions — like filing your taxes, shopping with a credit card, or accessing your bank account ­— use a secure wireless network or your phone’s data network (often referred to as 3G or 4G).

If you must use an unsecured wireless network for transactions, use the company’s mobile website — where you can check for the https at the start of the web address — rather than the company’s mobile app.

Don’t Assume a Wi-Fi Hotspot is Secure

Most Wi-Fi hotspots don’t encrypt the information you send over the internet and aren’t secure. In fact, if a network doesn’t require a WPA or WPA2 password, it’s probably not secure.

If you use an unsecured network to log in to an unencrypted site — or a site that uses encryption only on the sign-in page — other users on the network can see what you see and what you send. They could hijack your session and log in as you. New hacking tools — available for free online — make this easy, even for users with limited technical know-how. Your personal information, private documents, contacts, family photos, and even your login credentials could be up for grabs.

An imposter could use your account to impersonate you and scam people in your contact lists. In addition, a hacker could test your username and password to try to gain access to other websites – including sites that store your financial information.

Protect Your Information When Using Public Wi-Fi

Here’s how you can protect your information when using Wi-Fi:

• When using a hotspot, log in or send personal information only to websites you know are fully encrypted. To be secure, your entire visit to each site should be encrypted – from the time you log in to the site until you log out. If you think you’re logged in to an encrypted site but find yourself on an unencrypted page, log out right away.
• Don’t stay permanently signed in to accounts. When you’ve finished using an account, log out.
• Do not use the same password on different websites. It could give someone who gains access to one of your accounts access to many of your accounts.
• Many web browsers alert users who try to visit fraudulent websites or download malicious programs. Pay attention to these warnings, and keep your browser and security software up-to-date.
• Consider changing the settings on your mobile device so it doesn’t automatically connect to nearby Wi-Fi. That way, you have more control over when and how your device uses public Wi-Fi.
• If you regularly access online accounts through Wi-Fi hotspots, use a virtual private network (VPN). VPNs encrypt traffic between your computer and the internet, even on unsecured networks. You can get a personal VPN account from a VPN service provider. In addition, some organizations create VPNs to provide secure, remote access for their employees. What’s more, VPN options are available for mobile devices; they can encrypt information you send through mobile apps.
• Some Wi-Fi networks use encryption: WEP and WPA are common, but they might not protect you against all hacking programs. WPA2 is the strongest.
• Installing browser add-ons or plug-ins can help. For example, Force-TLS and HTTPS-Everywhere are free Firefox add-ons that force the browser to use encryption on popular websites that usually aren't encrypted. They don’t protect you on all websites — look for https in the URL to know a site is secure.
• Take steps to secure your wireless network.