I wrote this for some facebook friends.
A followup to my Internet Security- not Lifelock post
RansomWare.
Best defense is still a good, currently paid for antivirus/internet security software package/subscription like
Norton $39 a year, Avast, AVG, others.
my last choice is always McAfee as it usually scores at the bottom
or get a Mac.
PCGamer or CNet will invariably publish a best Antivirus/Internet Security review.
or get a Mac.
I use Norton and have for almost 20 years. I have avoided most of the major and minor threats on the net over the years because of this decision.
Buy the software on Amazon. It's cheaper than from the company directly.
or get a Mac.
Thirdly
Some useful third party programs that can prevent, rescue, stop other infections/hacks.
1. MalwareBytes (free but worth its weight in gold) I use this in addition to Norton on my PC
2. CCleaner, I use this one as well on my PC as well. This one will clean your system as gently or as aggressively as anything.
3. AdBlock, Stands adblocker (for browsers) these extensions will block page ads, clean up Facebook feeds, other social media pest, even youtube ads (if you hate them enough- I turned mine off since I understand now how much youtube creators need them). More importantly, the ad blockers will save from web page redirects (which is one way to get hit with ransomware).
Fourthly.
Most importantly.
Ransomware.
There are 4 principle ways to get hit by ransomware.
1. Email. I call this lazy hacking.
you get an email that appears to be from a friend (usually means they have been compromised) alway verify email addresses. The email contains some text and a mini-url link
will look something like this
http://ow.ly/azwa30cmEaC (this a youtube shortened url link)
there are ways to determine a shortened url source but most of us don't have time to figure out the pattern. Generally speaking shortened URLs or Mini-URLs are created by a third party app/website for redirects.
The short answer is NEVER NEVER NEVER click on them.
unless your friend tells you in articulate or at least his colloquial English that he saw this and thought it was funny.
still don't click it, though.
if you are savvy, find get him to tell you the name of the video /website and Google it.
many of these pages address will drop you into the ransomware directly and unless you have a very up to date internet security software guard in place (and sometimes even if you do) you're toast.
also, never, NEVER, NEVERNEVERNEVERNEVER! open attachments that are not picture files and even then be careful anyway. there are internet security apps for your phone but even Norton's one is mostly crap. this used to be the number one infection method for viruses. So many email attachments were corrupted or just infected. I could write a book on the variety of ways this kind of disaster takes place, but I am not going to spend any more time on it.
2. embedded (hidden) links in a seemingly or innocent website. I once almost killed the church's video pc while searching an opera page for Ave Maria media and ended up clicking on a bogus link buried in their page's code. The Ad blocker stopped it
These are rare on Click Bait pages.
What is a Click Bait page?
we've all seen them. They are very common. They are the Internet Tourist Trap.
On Twitter/Facebook they will usually be something about
Diet/Beauty/Celeb Reveals/ Cats/ Dogs/etc. stories that someone will post with next to no comments.
Like a Carnie vendor luring you into his crooked water gun stall, they will have just enough info to pull you to the page (outside of twitter/facebook)
When you get there, the dead giveaway is the tons of ads
I MEAN THE TONS OF ADS.
I hate click bait sites.
They farm your clicks for ad revenue.
well, this is like a pond full of mosquitos and one very hungry piranha waiting for you to panic.
in short, skip click-bait websites, they are bad news no matter how enticing the promised reveal is- they are bad news and the reveal is almost always not worth it.
3. text messages. If you don't have a smartphone, you are safe by being a dinosaur (mostly) your extinct even if you still believe those artifacts still work.
(kidding...well only half kidding)
with today's SMS (text messages) being interactive and capable of storing data packages you can load the Ransomware without ever knowing is have it. This includes Macs and PCs that have SMS interfaces.
if you don't believe this the average ransomware is 12 kilobytes in size, while the average picture is 10 megabytes.
the short answer, never click on an sms with a link on your phone. or answer one that you don't know who it is from.
4. lastly this is a collection of methods mostly out of use.
a. someone gives you a flashdrive with it on it.
b. someone gives you a dvdr/cdr with it on it.
c. you download it from the net (always be sure you know what you are downloading)
d. When streaming video, avoid unknown websites. Safe video streaming sites are youtube (there are some bogus streamers in youtube as well), vimeo, flickster, disneymovies, netflix, amazon, ultraviolet, there's another that does high rez movies.
e. video streaming apps that promise cheap movies.
f. free apps that promise free stuff
g. my brother (he's despicable)
h. porn sites (pornhub and xhamster are safe if you need to know)
i. be choosy on accepting cookies (the website kind- sorry cookie monster, a website cookee tracks you- ad blockers put a stop to this)
j. chat apps/programs - software can be pushed to you through them
k. torrents (if you know what this is, get a vpn, if not just don't do it.)
l. free phones. they exist.
m. free games. we've all played them. just remember that most free games make money....
n. facebook games- the scourge of my existence.
o. dating websites.... also very disappointing on other levels.
p. Pizza places other than Harby's (everything else just pales by comparison) also ordering food online- all kinds of info exchanges
q. when doing money transactions online always start with a fresh tab/window and when done close it. less chance of leaving a digital trail
r. dump your cookies and cache. then burn it (delete it). Remember Empire Strikes Back. Vader could have avoided a lot of trouble if they had deleted theirs before jumping to hyperspace.
s. did I mention having Internet Security Software?
t. Inflammatory statements in social media. It can attract hackers. (reference Madonna if in doubt)
u. Facebook quizzes. 9 out of 10 want access to your Facebook profile
v. anything on Facebook that wants access to your profile
w. anything that wants permission to post on Facebook for you.
x. decaf coffee...it's a crime against nature.
y. powdered cremora, it's a crime against coffee.
and
z. don't own a computer or a cellphone and live in a dead zone. or just nuke it all from orbit.
it's the only way to be sure.
A followup to my Internet Security- not Lifelock post
RansomWare.
Best defense is still a good, currently paid for antivirus/internet security software package/subscription like
Norton $39 a year, Avast, AVG, others.
my last choice is always McAfee as it usually scores at the bottom
or get a Mac.
PCGamer or CNet will invariably publish a best Antivirus/Internet Security review.
or get a Mac.
I use Norton and have for almost 20 years. I have avoided most of the major and minor threats on the net over the years because of this decision.
Buy the software on Amazon. It's cheaper than from the company directly.
or get a Mac.
Thirdly
Some useful third party programs that can prevent, rescue, stop other infections/hacks.
1. MalwareBytes (free but worth its weight in gold) I use this in addition to Norton on my PC
2. CCleaner, I use this one as well on my PC as well. This one will clean your system as gently or as aggressively as anything.
3. AdBlock, Stands adblocker (for browsers) these extensions will block page ads, clean up Facebook feeds, other social media pest, even youtube ads (if you hate them enough- I turned mine off since I understand now how much youtube creators need them). More importantly, the ad blockers will save from web page redirects (which is one way to get hit with ransomware).
Fourthly.
Most importantly.
Ransomware.
There are 4 principle ways to get hit by ransomware.
1. Email. I call this lazy hacking.
you get an email that appears to be from a friend (usually means they have been compromised) alway verify email addresses. The email contains some text and a mini-url link
will look something like this
http://ow.ly/azwa30cmEaC (this a youtube shortened url link)
there are ways to determine a shortened url source but most of us don't have time to figure out the pattern. Generally speaking shortened URLs or Mini-URLs are created by a third party app/website for redirects.
The short answer is NEVER NEVER NEVER click on them.
unless your friend tells you in articulate or at least his colloquial English that he saw this and thought it was funny.
still don't click it, though.
if you are savvy, find get him to tell you the name of the video /website and Google it.
many of these pages address will drop you into the ransomware directly and unless you have a very up to date internet security software guard in place (and sometimes even if you do) you're toast.
also, never, NEVER, NEVERNEVERNEVERNEVER! open attachments that are not picture files and even then be careful anyway. there are internet security apps for your phone but even Norton's one is mostly crap. this used to be the number one infection method for viruses. So many email attachments were corrupted or just infected. I could write a book on the variety of ways this kind of disaster takes place, but I am not going to spend any more time on it.
2. embedded (hidden) links in a seemingly or innocent website. I once almost killed the church's video pc while searching an opera page for Ave Maria media and ended up clicking on a bogus link buried in their page's code. The Ad blocker stopped it
These are rare on Click Bait pages.
What is a Click Bait page?
we've all seen them. They are very common. They are the Internet Tourist Trap.
On Twitter/Facebook they will usually be something about
Diet/Beauty/Celeb Reveals/ Cats/ Dogs/etc. stories that someone will post with next to no comments.
Like a Carnie vendor luring you into his crooked water gun stall, they will have just enough info to pull you to the page (outside of twitter/facebook)
When you get there, the dead giveaway is the tons of ads
I MEAN THE TONS OF ADS.
I hate click bait sites.
They farm your clicks for ad revenue.
well, this is like a pond full of mosquitos and one very hungry piranha waiting for you to panic.
in short, skip click-bait websites, they are bad news no matter how enticing the promised reveal is- they are bad news and the reveal is almost always not worth it.
3. text messages. If you don't have a smartphone, you are safe by being a dinosaur (mostly) your extinct even if you still believe those artifacts still work.
(kidding...well only half kidding)
with today's SMS (text messages) being interactive and capable of storing data packages you can load the Ransomware without ever knowing is have it. This includes Macs and PCs that have SMS interfaces.
if you don't believe this the average ransomware is 12 kilobytes in size, while the average picture is 10 megabytes.
the short answer, never click on an sms with a link on your phone. or answer one that you don't know who it is from.
4. lastly this is a collection of methods mostly out of use.
a. someone gives you a flashdrive with it on it.
b. someone gives you a dvdr/cdr with it on it.
c. you download it from the net (always be sure you know what you are downloading)
d. When streaming video, avoid unknown websites. Safe video streaming sites are youtube (there are some bogus streamers in youtube as well), vimeo, flickster, disneymovies, netflix, amazon, ultraviolet, there's another that does high rez movies.
e. video streaming apps that promise cheap movies.
f. free apps that promise free stuff
g. my brother (he's despicable)
h. porn sites (pornhub and xhamster are safe if you need to know)
i. be choosy on accepting cookies (the website kind- sorry cookie monster, a website cookee tracks you- ad blockers put a stop to this)
j. chat apps/programs - software can be pushed to you through them
k. torrents (if you know what this is, get a vpn, if not just don't do it.)
l. free phones. they exist.
m. free games. we've all played them. just remember that most free games make money....
n. facebook games- the scourge of my existence.
o. dating websites.... also very disappointing on other levels.
p. Pizza places other than Harby's (everything else just pales by comparison) also ordering food online- all kinds of info exchanges
q. when doing money transactions online always start with a fresh tab/window and when done close it. less chance of leaving a digital trail
r. dump your cookies and cache. then burn it (delete it). Remember Empire Strikes Back. Vader could have avoided a lot of trouble if they had deleted theirs before jumping to hyperspace.
s. did I mention having Internet Security Software?
t. Inflammatory statements in social media. It can attract hackers. (reference Madonna if in doubt)
u. Facebook quizzes. 9 out of 10 want access to your Facebook profile
v. anything on Facebook that wants access to your profile
w. anything that wants permission to post on Facebook for you.
x. decaf coffee...it's a crime against nature.
y. powdered cremora, it's a crime against coffee.
and
z. don't own a computer or a cellphone and live in a dead zone. or just nuke it all from orbit.
it's the only way to be sure.
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