Anti-virus Software Recommendations

We often get clients asking us for a recommendation on anti-virus software. This occurred last week when one of our clients was infected with a scareware trojan (again).  He couldn’t download anything off the web because the trojan was blocking it and was standing at the anti-virus software rack at the local Office Max. He had been using AVG on his new computer, which didn’t block the scareware.

So let’s talk about antimalware protection for your home office or small business. First, there are Internet security suites that can contain a firewall, anti-virus, antimalware, anti-phishing, anti-spam, parental control, identity theft protection, backup software and any number of other features which you may or may not need.

Then there is dedicated anti-virus/antispyware software that specializes in protecting your computer from a virus/worm/trojan. Read more.
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Beware of Scareware

You’ve probably seen it… you’re surfing along and up pops a window saying something like “Your computer is infected with 182 viruses – click here to fix”.

We’ve had several clients who’ve clicked on it and infected their computers. It puts an icon in your SysTray that keeps blatting about going to a web site and paying money to fix the problem. In many cases it limits your access to antivirus sites, can steal personal data and slow your computer.

It’s extortion. They infect your computer and then want money to fix it. It’s another form of phishing, luring you in under false pretenses. The term for it is “scareware”.

Read more.
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New Phishing Scam

I’ve been receiving a ton of phishing scams in my email inbox lately from banks, insurance companies and now, Microsoft.

The subject line says something about an “Update for Microsoft Outlook” (I’ve received 3 or 4 with different subject lines) but don’t buy into it – it’s another phishing attempt. Look at the picture below and notice where the link leads in the status bar on the bottom left…

If you can’t read it, it says http://update.microsoft.com.illlhi1.com/

This is a normal ploy for phishers, using subdomains to create a legitimate looking URL, but the actual domain is illlhi1.com, not Microsoft.

A word to the wise – DON’T click on links in emails from banks, insurance companies or even Microsoft.

Paul.
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