Viruses, Spyware, Physhing and Cookies

There are all kinds of nasty threats are lurking on the Internet that can spoil your day, not speaking about screwing up your computer or robbing your bank account.
The easiest to deal with is Phishing.
Phishing usually starts with a legitimate looking email from a know institution wanting you to confirm account numbers or passwords. Many of them will insult people with average IQ.
Fortunately it is the easiest threat to fight: don't respond to emails that don't look 110% safe.
If the message relates to an institution that you actually deal with, go to their web site and check if you have any message from them. Most cases you will not and that is when you will recognize that someone was trying to fool you.
Spyware is a bit different. Most Spyware is actually harmless and only wants to track your on-line habits. They are a.k.a Cookies - or little programs which you unknowingly downloaded hides in your computer and will collect information about web sites you visit and what you do there.
The malicious Spyware are the so called "key-trackers" which try to "remember" your log-in information, passwords and account numbers
There are many good tools to kill Spyware. My favorite is Spybot, which you can download for a nominal donation at www.spybot.com.
Viruses have no particular purpose other than to destroy as many computers as possible and create mass hysteria.
They are written by very bright software creators with sick minds and, most likely, unloving parents and no social life.
The first line of defense is a good anti-virus software from a reputable company.
I prefer AVG, which can be purchased at many outlets, including on-line.
They also offer a free version which can be downloaded at www.avg.com. This version does not have all the bells and whistles, but it is perfectly adequate to protect your computer. All versions of AVG constantly update their virus data base and require less computer memory to operate.
Questions? call or email me: peter@ligeti.com or 408-528-8422