* Spot a Computer Virus * Check Closely Look closely at the subject lines. For those who dont know, a subject line is a summary of an email. If u happen to be getting subject lines such as: Make.Money.Fast, most likely the email contains a virus. * Watch Attached Files Most of the time a file that is a virus has an .exe or .vbs file extension. (A file extension is a type of file.) What most hackers would do is name a file followed by a file extension, followed by another file extension. (blank.jpg.vbs for example.) The first extension (.jpg) is just part of the name if followed by another (.vbs). * Check The Sender If the sender is someone u dont know or a company youre not familiar with, the email probably contains a virus. * Read The Message Although it might be sent from someone u know, the message may leave u clueless about why it was sent. (For ex., the here u have email virus simply says This is The Document I told u about,u can find it Here, followed by the virus download link. Upon reading, it will send itself to every1 in the Microsoft Office address book with the victim as the sender.) That is an obvious indication that the email contains a virus. * Never Follow Useless Links Know that email viruses may pretend to be sent from an existing company. It is important to read each email thoroughly; an email may seem to be sent from a legitimate company when it was really sent from a hacker. (This is called forging email.) A forged email may contain multiple spelling/ punctuation errors, another indicator that the email contains a virus. Do not follow links unless assured or necessary. Sometimes the virus is located on a website, rather than attached to an email. The hacker would require the victim to follow the link to a website in order for the virus to be downloaded. If not contacted/ assured prior to receiving the email that the link is safe, do not follow it. * Tips a) Never give out your email address to anyone u dont trust, this will ensure that spam & infected emails will stay at a minimum. b) If u are constantly receiving spam, u can either download an anti-spam program or create a new email account. c) Make sure u have good antivirus protection; in the scenario that u accidentally download a virus, it would automatically stop & delete it from your computer before it does its job.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 07:24:16 +0000
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