Search terms could leave your computer in danger!
There are certain terms that could leave you and your computer vulnerable to spy ware and other viruses.
Cyber-crime happens to be a pretty large business and now criminals are finding their ways onto computers that may not be looking for “trouble” but simple things…
The worst words to search for are:
Lyrics: like lyrics to a song, because most children that are 12-15 don’t know any better than to just click on ANY link to get the information will do so.
Free or Gratis: I know only a little bit of Spanish, but I know that these two words could lead you into a lot of trouble. Spyware, adware, and viruses leak freely to these search terms.
Gear, gadgets, and games – If you really want to know what’s the latest in gadgets, please visit here more often. I am always up to date on the latest phones so please shoot me a question before searching and ending up with a virus on your computer…
Olympics – Michael Phelps did an amazing thing for the United States, by winning all those gold medals, but now people are wondering what his next move is… This could lead to spyware being installed on your computer also.
Videos – There are so many video programs out there for computers, like YouTube, which is Flash.
Celebrities – Get your news from a “trusted” source such as one of the top 10,000 in Alexa for celebrity news, some of them include Dlisted (my personal favorite), Perez Hilton, and TMZ.
The most dangerous search terms as created by McAfee says that search terms like the ones listed above signal scammers (anything from solo operators to organized crime) will be able to do business with other criminals so they can move their money.
I don’t think that anyone who reads this blog wants to particularly render any money they may have or had to organized crime so there are some steps you can take to protect your privacy:
1) Anti virus and ad ware software, run every single day. Ad-Ware, SpyBot, Symantic…these should all be companies that you are not only aware of but also quite familiar with when it comes to online safety. These programs will help keep your identity safe.
2) Monitor your childrens’ activities on the internet. Just make sure that they aren’t giving out any personal information to anyone on the internet.
3) Make sure that there are certain steps that you are taking to prevent identity theft other than those listed above. This weekend Lizzie mentioned shopping online for things. Well, most credit card companies now offer ways to shop a little safer including virtual numbers. With a virtual number you can shop and if some online retailer decides to take your credit number for a “spin” they won’t get very far.
Keep these things in mind and perhaps you can have a clear conscious when going to bed at night.
No related posts.
If you want to contribute tutorials, news or other stuff please contact us. We pay 150 for each approved article.
Consectetur adipisicing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore.
This site uses valid HTML and CSS. All content Copyright © 2010 Newscast, Inc
If you like what we do, please don't hestitate and subscribe to our
You do in some ways need to take note what you are searching for. Cyber criminals tend to target easy prey in large masses taking a shotgun approach to infecting them.
While you need to understand that certain searches are more prone to having viruses attached to certain website, being careful today is simply not enough.
A true defensive against such viruses is not only to have a good firewall/anti virus program(s) in place on your computer but to regularly update them as well.
Try the following for some extra layers of protection on your computer.
AVG – Anti-Virus
Enable Windows Firewall
Lavasoft – Adware
SpywareBlaster
Spy Bot – Search and Destroy
Symantec AntiVirus
Do we have to limit what we search on, or does it suffice to just be careful about what we click on once we’re there?
#1 I understand your concern about a site saying welcome guest from “The exact city that you are from” and targeting ads based on your location. First off this is not a hard marketing ploy to do and is quite easy to do in fact. I personally don’t do it, even though it might raise the CTR(Click-thru-rate) on some ads. This type of marketing is what is know as “Geo-Targeting”. Second off it is not a security hole in your system or anything, they are simply basing the ad off of your ip address to determine your physical location.
#2 Not true you can run multiple anti-virus programs at the same time, although some don’t play well with each other depending on your OS and setup, and firewall settings.
I personally run all those programs on my home and work system, and update each program once a week to keep them running against new outbreaks. Each once does something different, although AVG and Symantec are basically the same, though I use them both because sometimes one catches something that the other one doesn’t.
Also all of the programs that I mentioned above are – FREE
Well, Symantec Antivirus isn’t free. I’m able to get it for free because my university has a corporate and all the students and faculty are able to get it.
A couple of times recently I have had a web page open on me that claims to be a newspaper site. The city changes in the newspaper title but the content is the same. It’s full of claims of riches for those working from home, using their system. It’s quite a concern that they can get this page to just arrive, without the reader knowing where it has come from.
Of the software you mention above, which can be used at the same time? I was told a while back that you could only run one piece of anti-virus software at a time but has that changed now?
In response to the 1st post, I don’t think we have to limit our searches because the important thing is to just get a good anti virus software. They will warn you if the site you are about to click on has security hazards.
That’s a very good post, we had a lot of people who searched for websites and then got viruses etc, because they enter the ones with viruses etc.
The problem is that most people use Internet Explorer and it’s not the most secure browser out there.
I would never figure lyrics to be a search term that would be associated with spyware, but I guess since it is such a popular search term, spammers could target that market. Be sure to make your computer safe against these attacks.
I think you have to be careful to protect your computer no matter what you are searching for. It is important to have software that can protect your computer from malware and virus’s and to make sure that these programs are updated on a regular basis.
This is true because as we search lots of things on the internet then there may be a lots of chances of virus attack. So i suggest you to please do not open the unknown or any flash items on any web sites. Anyways keep it up and keep continue.
Well this is true because searching is the most dangerous thing because you can find lots of viruses and spams. So do your searching carefully.