HOW TO AVOID DANGEROUS WEB SITES
“NEW YORK, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Americans lost about $49.3 billion in 2006 to criminals who stole their identities, an 11.5 percent decline that may reflect increased vigilance among consumers and businesses, a study released on Thursday shows.”
Aim: Review some tips on avoiding dangerous Internet site using as a guide the article from http://tinyurl.com/2kwqs4
General
Be aware of the great danger involved with unsafe sites e.g. phishers, adware engines.
Avoid problem before it is too late.
Nine telltale signs to alert you
Avoid dangerous sites McAfee’s Site Advisor http://www.siteadvisor.com/
Sign 1: Pop-ups
Example: click on search result> bunch of porn sites
Exit quickly i.e. click X (upper right corner) or Alt + F4
Run malware scanner and remover
Use Pop-up blocker
IE 7: (Tools> Pop-up Blocker)
Firefox: (Tools> Options> Content tab)
Sign 2: Where’s the EULA?
Make certain you are prompted to use one
Read carefully!
Free tool: EULAlyzer at http://tinyurl.com/d9nwh
Sign 3: Excessive firewall alerts
Be certain you have one
Take all alarms seriously
With numerous warnings: something is amiss
Sign 4: E-mail link phish for information
Phishing is about the worst of all of them; often mimic alerts from known businesses/banks
Beware of a link that asks for “important” data
Contact company e.g. bank for verification first
Check Federal Trade Commission’s alert board http://tinyurl.com/y6fc5h
I just received this notification email. I checked with cox and it is a scam.
Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2007 6:11:38 -0500
From: "MAINTAIN COX.NET" <guynnj@adelphia.net>
Reply-To: protectcox500@yahoo.com
Subject: PLEASE PROTECT YOUR COX.NET ACCOUNT FROM BEING CLOSED
Sensitivity: Normal
Greetings to you,
This is to formally notify you that we are presently working on the
cox.net, and this can close your webmail account with cox.net
completely.
To avoid this, please send your surname and password to cox.net
customer care email address: protectcox500@yahoo.com
,so that your
account can be protcted.
Your immediate response is highly needed
Sign 5: The site’s URL and e-mail don’t match
Beware if Web site’s URL does not match the contact’s email address
Most legitimate companies provide their employees with
a corporate e-mail account. This doesn't mean, however, that you can
automatically trust sites where the two align. Illegitimate companies can
purchase domain names as easily as legitimate companies.
Sign 6: Are you secured?
If you have to enter personal information check for security signs
Sign 7: Check “teh” spelling
Be suspicious if you see bad grammar and spelling
Includes the address name e.g. yhoo.com
Sign 8: Nested links
Be leery about being forwarded to an unrelated site or sites
Sign 9: Ridiculously large gifts
Usually you will have to provide personal data
Beware of pyramid schemes
Remember the basics
Beware of opening email attachments or you may accept a Trojan horse
Cover yourself with an adequate firewall (first line of defense), antivirus software and a few anti-spyware programs that nab infections that get through
Use very strong passwords and change periodically