Don't get worms...

Viruses and worms are getting smarted and more complex. Some of the latest virus attacks involve new, combination viruses that are a mix of a virus and a worm. Typically these will infect a machine through either email attachments or malicious code downloaded from a web site. Not only can your computer be infected with a virus, which causes problems by using your computer to send out masses of email, but also keystroke logger utilities may be installed which monitor which keys are pressed when you are connected to secure web sites - including banking web sites, and the results reported back to the software originator.

Naturally these can cause serious problems not only by causing system instability and unnecessary Internet traffic, but also by stealing confidential information. Be very careful of any attachments you receive in email messages, and also take care of any web sites you visit. If you receive a suspicious looking email asking you to click on a link in the email in order to reset passwords, or download files, it is recommended you don't click on the link but rather, manually type the shown address into a web browser if you feel this is a valid email. Some email messages can show one address on the screen but the link itself points to a different site - often hovering over the link in the email will show the address it is actually pointing to.

Security of your computer system is going to become more and more of an issue over the following months & years as hackers get smarter, more organised and use both technology and ignorance to gain more money and power. Security starts with the person sitting at the keyboard (you and me) and ends with us too. The rest comes down to proper system configuration that provides both a secure and useable environment.

What can you do? Well - that will be the subject of another posting soon, when I get time (it's a BIG list).

Stay tuned...