Detecting Fake Virus Alerts

Fake Virus AlertsYou’re surfing along on the web, researching images of algae… That should be safe as milk, right? Yes, so long as you know when you’re being scammed. This video shows an example of how easy it can be to get herded into doing something you don’t want to do. Is your computer really telling you there is a virus, or is it just a scheming website owner trying to hack in to your computer? Find out in the video below.

 

Can the FTC really stop tracking?

Can the FTC really stop tracking?The Federal Trade Commission is proposing ‘Do Not Track’ legislation similar to the ‘Do Not Call’ legislation that attempted to stop cold callers in the United States. Some marketing firms are tracking your personal movements across multiple websites, regardless of what they say. When you get a telephone marketing call from a company just a few minutes after you land on their home page, it’s hard to pretend otherwise. Continue reading “Can the FTC really stop tracking?”

Chain Spam Etiquette

Apple PieI recently got an email from my friend warning about pending doom coming from a computer virus. There’s a copy of it in the blockquote below.

Of course it didn’t say NON-APPLE-PIE EATER, but instead something more controversial. The actual content of any chain spam is immaterial. What’s more important to the original poster is the goal of getting as many people to propagate useless information as possible. It was done this time by pairing fear of computer viruses with hate language and a command to disseminate the spam to as many people as possible, even to those who have already received it in an effort to make sure your friends ‘don’t get infected’. Continue reading “Chain Spam Etiquette”