March Madness kicks into high gear today, March 18th, 2010, with the first games taking place at 12:20 PM EST. From now until the end of March, millions of fans will tune in to watch as the field of 65 teams quickly dwindles down to the famous Final Four. During this ten day stretch, many of the games will take place during traditional “work hours,” forcing a majority of the fans to turn to the internet for schedules, updates, scores and even FREE live streaming of the games. Unfortunately, criminals and hackers are aware of this increased interest and have turned their malware all the way to 11 to take advantage of unsuspecting basketball fans.
As with any other spike in a particular search topic/interest, the criminally minded will attempt to capitalize on the frenzy surrounding this event by bullying their way into your search results and (with any luck) your computer. Many fans will be rushing to news sites and unfamiliar web sites to find out how their favorite team is doing and, in this rush, users might not be focused on the security of their computer. A great article, titled Don’t Let Malware Score This March, was posted by Lockergnome yesterday afternoon. The blog post points out the potential dangers facing fans and offers up a solution for the problem (WinPatrol Plus). While this software might be a great solution, I am unfamiliar with it and I see that it will run you $29.95. So, I thought I would bring you some of my own suggestions on preventing Malware Madness this March.
Browsing the internet should be easy! Unfortunately, with all of the toolbars, icons, labels and preloaded bookmarks of the most used internet browsers (IE, Firefox) your viewable space can get a bit messy. If you have found yourself a bit overwhelmed by the “clutter” that has accumulated within your browser or simply want to see more of the web pages you are browsing, we have something for you. Welcome to JumpstartMyFirefox! We’re going to show you how to take your browser from A to B.
Over the past few years, Firefox add-ons have grabbed my attention more and more. Each time I found myself with a browsing need or problem, a quick Google search led me to a solution using add-ons, which are basically mini-programs that work within Firefox to customize some part of the browsing experience. I have installed and tested many add-ons during that time and today I bring you my own collection, titled JumpstartMyFirefox, to help you take back your browser.
“Malware Peddlers Look to Exploit Olympic Luge Tragedy“ That is the title of an article posted on mashable.com yesterday. Yes, the sad truth is that cyber-criminals are using a man’s death to find a way into your computer and your wallet. Many were interested in the details of the Winter Olympic tragedy and, in their search to find the video of the accident in question, were tricked into installing malicious software on their computer.
Scams like these are becoming more and more common. As PC and internet users we have just a few choices. We can avoid using the internet completely (not likely) or arm ourselves with the right tools to prevent malware attacks, spyware trickery, phishing scams, etc. Anti-virus and anti-malware programs can detect and prevent most malicious software when it gets to your computer, but what about preventing this malware from ever getting to you. This is where My Web of Trust (WOT) comes in.
In my research for yesterday’s article Surf Safely with Web of Trust for FREE I stumbled across a great article on “layered security.” This was a term that I had never heard and had never really put any thought into. In fact, it has opened up a new world for me that I am exploring as I write this article. You see, the hard truth is that no single security program is 100% effective against spyware, malware, adware, trojans, keyloggers, etc. There are thousands of threats waiting to attack your PC and the best protection you have is teaming up several security programs.
Yesterday, we warned you about the nearly 10,000 passwords that were stolen and posted online by cybercriminals. Further information indicates that these passwords were stolen via a fake Hotmail website, identical to the real thing. This phishing scam tricked users into entering their email address and password. Twenty-four hours later a similar list of thousands of Google Gmail, AOL, Yahoo Mail, Comcast and Earthlink accounts were revealed as well.
Scams like these are becoming more and more common. As PC and internet users we have just a few choices. We can avoid using the internet completely (not likely) or arm ourselves with the right tools to prevent malware attacks, spyware trickery, phishing scams, etc. In the case of the Hotmail passwords, a simple anti-virus or spyware program would NOT have prevented the crime. No software was installed and these programs would not have sent up any flares to warn us of the potential danger. That’s why we need a program like My Web of Trust (WOT).
Our blog posts so far have really covered a wide range, from “Defragging Your Computer” to “Facebook mentions.” If you have read more than one of them and know that our goal at JumpstartMyPC.com is to help PC users get the most out of their PC, you might be wondering how all these topics fit. Yesterday, I saw it all come together in a few seconds.
A friend of mine posted a YouTube video to Facebook. I clicked on the link to find it was a commercial from Norton Antivirus, and it was pretty funny. The content, writing and filming were all great but I was laughing for a different reason. The makers of Norton Antivirus were hyping their Norton Internet Security software, with no mention of purchase price or subscriptions. They were using this free advertising stream (Facebook) and the comedy of a quick, short video hosted on YouTube (also free) to market a product that will cost you, the user….
March Madness kicks into high gear today, March 18th, 2010, with the first games taking place at 12:20 PM EST. From now until the end of March, millions of fans will tune in to watch as the field of 65 teams quickly dwindles down to the famous Final Four. During this ten day stretch, many of the games will take place during traditional “work hours,” forcing a majority of the fans to turn to the internet for schedules, updates, scores and even FREE live streaming of the games. Unfortunately, criminals and hackers are aware of this increased interest and have turned their malware all the way to 11 to take advantage of unsuspecting basketball fans.
“
In my research for yesterday’s article 
