Prevent Phishing and Spyware Attacks

I just finished reading an article in Information Week about how Yahoo is now authenticating email to prevent spam. It’s about time. The story reminded me of another article I read earlier about how “internet users are virtually clueless about security“. The article explains how many PC users think they’re safe from viruses, spyware and spam, but when the pollsters visited those homes they found spyware on 80% of the computers, two-thirds were not using a firewall system and another two-thirds hadn’t updated their virus protection in at least 7 days.

Spam, Spyware, Viruses, Phishing…will it ever stop? No, but as Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars said, “You can’t win, but there are alternatives to fighting.”

I wrote an article on “Preventing Phishing and Spyware” for the Alameda Chamber of Commerce Newsletter that I felt was fitting to post here as well. Knowing is half the battle and applying it is the other half. I can only provide the first half. You’ll have to put the other half into action. If you do, I can guarantee a huge reduction in the amount of spam, spyware and such.

Here are a few ways to protect yourself from these phishing scams.

1. Don’t provide any of your personal information over the internet.
2. When in doubt, delete. Delete any email you have doubts about, especially one that requests you to give up your personal, private information.
3. If you feel the email looks suspicious, report the email to the ‘real’ company.

To prevent spyware, see my recent post on switching to an alternative browser: Prevent Spyware. The Easy Way.

See my other articles and posts pertaining to these problems and how to solve them.

– Spam. It’s Our Own Fault

– Blocking ALL Spam in Outlook

– Avoiding Spam

– Anti-Spam Article

– Virus Prevention Tips

Mike Swartz says, “Check it out!”