We all know about computer viruses, ad aware and malware, Trojan horses and worms, but isn't it the job of your router and on board software and applications to take care of this for you? Yes and no. Most, every day computer users seem to think that a good anti virus product like AVG or Avast, Norton and the likes are all you need in the home to keep you safe from perpetrators, but is this all you really need? Speaking as an IT specialist, I can put my hand on my heart and say NO, this is not all you need to protect yourself from all those nasty people out on the information super highway, internet scammers are where you really need to be careful too! I am sure you have all seen the newish TV adverts for Microsoft and Windows 7, where the girl gets the red error page and gets redirected back from a risky web site, and I bet you all thought "what the hell has she been looking at to get that warning message to flash up?" The simple answer is fairly straight forward. The warning screen is not just to tell you are about to enter a dodgy website, Windows 7 can do so much more than just redirect you away from a shifty site.
Check in your spam or junk mail box, or, sometimes, if your firewall is not set up correctly, you're in box. I get loads of junk emails, advertising fake designer watches, buy pharmaceuticals cheap online, and all the usual rubbish, but am very wary of anything you do not recognise. I, on a daily basis get loads of junk mail from banks and building societies, all of which I never have had an account with, all of which wanting me to confirm my internet banking details, and take a minute out of my busy schedule to confirm my passwords and details for them to rectify this shocking problem. Wrong! Think again!
The most shocking one of all came through yesterday. I have mentioned I don't trust online banking earlier (I also worked in customer services for several large mail order companies and insurance brokers when I was younger; I know how everyone wants your details!) I received an email from PayPal, telling me someone had just changed my details for my account. This was shocking, and amusing at the same time. The reason behind my amusement? I have never had a PayPal account; this was just too obviously a scam, so I decided to track this email down, using Windows 7. A simple right click on the message, and you can find out the original senders details, this company originated in Japan, most strange considering PayPal are located in California. I clicked on the details, and got directed to this Japanese company's site, a very degrading porno site. Now, this encroaches on two points of home security. 1. The very serious issue of someone pretending to be a legitimate, massive company like PayPal to get your credit details, illegally. 2. Say if an elderly, easily offended member of your family followed this link, or, worse still, your young children. Any teenage boy sees a site like that and they could well be using your details for themselves to get access to this filth, a double no. This company ripping off your details, then charging a teenage boy to your very fast disappearing funds, could be the cause of big family fallout. You could simply avoid this by coming to MR PC Fix IT, getting an OS upgrade to Windows 7, and I can even teach you how to remain safe while using the internet as well!
[http://worcestersmrpcfixit.com/]
