Feed: Antivirus Reviews & Internet Security - AggScore: 67.9

Mobile Malware Increases

It’s not just your PC or laptop that is a target for viruses and malware: antivirus software companies are warning that phone-based malware and viruses are on the up.

The numbers are small compared to what can potentially target your PC or laptop, but there is an increase. Mobile malware works in a similar way to viruses and malware on your PC. They can be used to access information, help with bank fraud, and in some cases make the phone text extremely expensive numbers. They get to a users phone through the use of the internet and downloading of apps and games. This last method appears to the be the most popular ones for the creators of trojans.

The computer security company F-Secure recently issued a report that showed Android phones were being targeted the most by malware for mobiles. This is why antivirus experts encourage users to only buy apps and download games from official stores, particularly in the case of Android, as the report suggests these mobiles are especially popular targets.

Google did launch a malware scanning system back in February, designed to root out the infected apps. In this sweep many of them were caught, however F-Secure found a lot of infected apps in the wild, and people were obviously happy to download these thinking that they were safe. A trend amongst these sorts of Trojans appears to be an error message popping up half way through the supposed download of an app or game. Users try to download it from elsewhere, thinking the original download was aborted, not knowing that the message was placed there by the Trojan and it had already downloaded itself onto the phone. This makes discovering that they are even on your phone extremely difficult, and gives them a longer life.

Mobiles malware might not be as numerous as PC malware yet, but it is becoming just as sophisticated. Antivirus and anti-malware software have become a staple of owning a computer or laptop, and the same could soon be said of owning a phone.

Guest Article by Sophie Camp

Fake Antivirus Programmes On Increase

The antivirus programme market is huge, with so many options open to both consumer and business users. There are different features, price ranges and specifications for each one, which makes choosing even more difficult. However, the market is being made even more complicated by the new rise in fake antivirus scanners. Now consumers are having to make sure the antivirus programme/scanner that they are downloading are legitimate as well as the best one for their needs and price range.

Fake antivirus programmes do exactly what they say: they pretend to be a legitimate antivirus programme or scanner, and consumers install them onto their computers without realising their intensions. Once they are on a computer, they have the power to access large amounts of data.

Many people download these antivirus programmes without having any suspicions that they are not real. You may think an antivirus scanner or programme that is a fake would be very obvious, but they are in fact very intelligently designed. Many use fake credentials to assure consumers they are reliable, and make very convincing websites that seem completely genuine.

Mobile antivirus scanners are seeing a real rise in fakes on the market, and a recent Android antivirus scanner was discovered being sold on Google’s Play marketplace. Despite its official look and feel, users who downloaded the scanner were in fact inviting malicious software onto their mobile phones. Legitimate brands such as Kaspersky have also been targeted, with their customers believing they were downloading a mobile antivirus scanner from them without realising it was not genuine.

The biggest piece of advice given by security experts is not to download from secondary marketplaces. Buying from known and trusted websites, brands and publishers is the most sensible option. If the piece of software purports to be from a well known brand then check this out before downloading; check on their official website to ensure its legitimacy.

If you do get caught out, there are a number of antivirus scanners that can root out fake antivirus programmes. These can either be downloaded or come on a USB drive, and it scans your hardrive for fake tools and suspicious software. The market and security experts are quickly learning about this particular scam, and developing intelligence to help spot and combat it. Common sense whilst choosing an antivirus solution, programme or scanner is always your best defence though, as not every threat can be contained.

Guest Article by Sophie Camp

Staying Safe Online While Christmas Shopping

It’s that time of year again when the shops are crazy with Christmas shoppers looking for the perfect gift for friends and family, but for those of us who are too busy (or sane) to go shopping then the Internet is the best place to find the latest gadgets at the lowest prices.

Each year Brits are spending more online over the Christmas period than ever before, taking a look at last year’s figures 44% of the UK’s Internet adult population increased online spending compared to 2009 according to eConsultancy.com taking the total amount spent online to £6.8bn in December according to the Guardian.co.uk. Although part of this increase will be due to the extremely bad weather conditions experienced last December.

Guest Article by Louise Goldstein

I Need to Speed Up My PC

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Any kind of IT related problem can really ruin your day. A slow computer can effectively make everyday tasks, such as, running Microsoft Office or surfing the net very frustrating. If you are experiencing a problem today then this post might just contain the answer you are looking for.

A Spot of PC Spring Cleaning

This may sound obvious but before you delve any deeper check how much media you have stored. Thousands of pics, music and videos can really slow down your system. However simply clicking delete is not enough because in most cases you are just removing a reference to file. To permanently delete files from your system it is best to follow this guide which takes you through how to use the Microsoft SDelete tool. One important thing to consider is games can really slow down you computer especially if it is a bit older. Make sure you uninstall any games you are no longer playing.

If you do find lots of media and unwanted files, but you don’t want to lose them forever you can buy an external hard drive or USB memory stick. Nowadays many people choose to store important files and media in the cloud. Cloud computing allows you to use storage which is accessible online. A free popular choice is Google docs it takes no time to register and best of all you can access your files anytime you like as long as you have an internet connection.

Should I Use A Registry Cleaner?

A lot of people use registry cleaners to speed up their computers. The Microsoft registry system stores all the information about the programs installed on your system. Overtime these entries build up and can slow down your computer. Some IT experts believe that these reg cleaners can and do go wrong and can effectively damage a system making it unusable. However, there is a safer way of removing registry entries. You can visit ehow.com which contains a helpful and short guide on how to manually remove entries. I particularly like the warning against free demo software because it highlights that they usually only notify you of problems or errors and do not remove them.

Get A Good Antivirus Software

Millions of people all over the world have installed good antivirus software to protect their computers against malicious programs. Spyware and other malicious software track what you do so they can serve ads or even steal your information and crash your computer. Do your research and buy the best you can afford so that you avoid problems later. McAfee, Norton and Kaspersky are amongst the most well respected brands on the market and have been around for quite a while. So take a look at what they have to offer. We have quite a few reviews you can check out.

Lastly but certainly not least, Defragmentation. Your computer stores files in lots of different locations. By defragmenting you reduce the time it takes to read the files and startup times. It’s very easy to do, go to My Computer, right click on the disk then click properties. Next go to the tools tab and defragment.

Computer viruses in the age of social networking

The rise in the popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter has naturally encouraged computer virus criminals to look for opportunities allowing them to exploit this phenomenon.

With almost 60 per cent of the adult population in the UK now involved in social media in one way or another, the industry has become a target for viruses. Not to mention the fact that around 90 per cent of 13 to 18 years old regularly use social networking websites such as Facebook – an age group particularly vulnerable to the threats viruses present.

Although most social networking sites are now taking measures to prevent viruses infecting their features, this is often an impossible task. Many viruses are contained on sites that are simply linked to Facebook and other social media sites. These links can be reported and subsequently removed, but the immediate threat is unavoidable. Unless social networking websites remove the ability to link external sites up – which is highly unlikely – the social media user must practice vigilance when socialising and sharing material online.

Avoiding links to infected websites

It can be difficult to avoid links to infected websites, but in most cases close inspection of a link will reveal whether it is valid or not. If a link suddenly takes you to an external website, you should close the page immediately if that wasn’t what you were expecting.

Don’t click any links that seem to be dodgy – and if possible, block the user or application sharing them. The majority of virus inflicting website links do appear to the conscious user to be untrustworthy. It’s just a case of avoiding the urge to click them; most are attached to an interesting story or some aspect that aims to persuade you to click onto the website.

Of course, the best advice you could take heed of here is that of installing an anti-virus programme onto your computer system. This will take care of any threats and eliminate them if you do accidently click onto an unreliable third party website. Malware protection software can be found on the Internet and in store for a reasonable price, and most require you to renew your package each year for ongoing infection prevention.

Staying safe on social networking websites

There is a golden rule to follow when it comes to social networking, in order to avoid viruses and other threats online: only connect and share with those you know personally. These are people you have meet in real life, or have had personal contact with. Although, of course, such individuals are still prone to sharing dangerous links, your exposure to malware threats will be far more limited. Adding unknown people to your Facebook and MySpace account is not a recommendable course of action.

Social media provides a range of incredible opportunities, and has revolutionised communication in many ways. Connectivity opportunities have broadened and data sharing for informational and entertainment purposes has become more widely available. Don’t let the threat of the computer virus spoil your fun online.

Guest Article by Connor Sephton