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dreadgeek · 09-10-2010, 09:49 AM

Scorp:

Thanks for the warning.

A couple of things that you should keep in mind to keep yourself protected from malware (viruses, spyware, etc.)

1) NEVER open an attachment from someone you do not know. Ever. EVER! If someone you do not know sends you a document then assume its a virus.

2) If you are in a Windows environment run anti-virus software and anti-spywre software. If you are running a Mac you don't NEED to run them constantly but it's nice to have them present on your system. (I don't run real-time anti-virus software on my Macbook Pro but I have anti-virus software installed.)

3) NEVER click on a link if you are uncertain about it. When you see a link in an email you should either put your mouse cursor over the link (which should show you the URL) or copy and paste the link into a TEXT editor (Notepad or Wordpad on Windows, TextEdit, BBEdit or Aquamacs on Mac) that way you can see what the *actual* URL is. (A lot of scammers will just do some link which makes it *look* like the URL is legit when it is not. If the URL says that it goes to, for instance, Chase.com but when you copy and paste you see that it goes to http://ima.scumbag-spammer.ru or what have you you know it is a fake.

4) Your bank, your utility companies, your school will NEVER email you out of the blue and ask you to email your password. Never. Ever. If you get an email that appears to be from your bank etc. asking you to go to some website and verify your password assume it is a fake. DON'T click the link. Instead, go to the website of your bank directly and verify it there.

5) NEVER send personal information 'in the clear' over email. Email is *inherently* insecure which does not mean you shouldn't use it. If you need to send confidential information by email, invest in a public-key encryption program like PGP (http://www.pgp.com).

Cheers
Aj

09-10-2010, 09:49 AM	#2
dreadgeek Power Femme How Do You Identify?: Cinnamon spiced, caramel colored, power-femme Preferred Pronoun?: She Relationship Status: Married to a wonderful horse girl Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Lat: 45.60 Lon: -122.60 Posts: 1,733 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 1,132 Thanked 6,844 Times in 1,493 Posts Rep Power: 21474852	Scorp: Thanks for the warning. A couple of things that you should keep in mind to keep yourself protected from malware (viruses, spyware, etc.) 1) NEVER open an attachment from someone you do not know. Ever. EVER! If someone you do not know sends you a document then assume its a virus. 2) If you are in a Windows environment run anti-virus software and anti-spywre software. If you are running a Mac you don't NEED to run them constantly but it's nice to have them present on your system. (I don't run real-time anti-virus software on my Macbook Pro but I have anti-virus software installed.) 3) NEVER click on a link if you are uncertain about it. When you see a link in an email you should either put your mouse cursor over the link (which should show you the URL) or copy and paste the link into a TEXT editor (Notepad or Wordpad on Windows, TextEdit, BBEdit or Aquamacs on Mac) that way you can see what the actual URL is. (A lot of scammers will just do some link which makes it look like the URL is legit when it is not. If the URL says that it goes to, for instance, Chase.com but when you copy and paste you see that it goes to http://ima.scumbag-spammer.ru or what have you you know it is a fake. 4) Your bank, your utility companies, your school will NEVER email you out of the blue and ask you to email your password. Never. Ever. If you get an email that appears to be from your bank etc. asking you to go to some website and verify your password assume it is a fake. DON'T click the link. Instead, go to the website of your bank directly and verify it there. 5) NEVER send personal information 'in the clear' over email. Email is inherently insecure which does not mean you shouldn't use it. If you need to send confidential information by email, invest in a public-key encryption program like PGP (http://www.pgp.com). Cheers Aj __________________ Proud member of the reality-based community. "People on the side of The People always ended up disappointed, in any case. They found that The People tended not to be grateful or appreciative or forward-thinking or obedient. The People tended to be small-minded and conservative and not very clever and were even distrustful of cleverness. And so, the children of the revolution were faced with the age-old problem: it wasn’t that you had the wrong kind of government, which was obvious, but that you had the wrong kind of people. As soon as you saw people as things to be measured, they didn’t measure up." (Terry Pratchett)