Being in the Internet and computer business full-time as I am I have to put a great deal of thought into the 'dark' side of things because they will not leave me alone ;D They're relentless believe you me...
But they don't just want me. They want you too! Bad! They are constantly working to come up with new ways to get you without you maybe even being aware you've done been gotten...
I want you on the Internet and I know the level of effort the baddies put into making your time on the Internet unpleasant so I have to 1. Make sure you are always safe on my websites first. And 2. Help you with information to be safer in general in your Internet efforts.
If you're using anti-virus only to protect your computer(s) and nothing to protect your smart phone then you are definitely at risk. It's that simple. Keep your computers and smart phones updated and I suggest you check out may latest article on my web hosting and website design site AnglerHosting.com about how I protect my computers and devices (besides diligent updating) with one of the best solutions to protect against viruses, malware, zero-day threats, worms and all the other bad elements lurking in the dark corners of the Internet: Protect Your Computers and Surf Safely (http://www.anglerhosting.com/2015/06/protect-your-computers-and-surf-safely/)
If you have any questions about what you do to protect your devices or about anything on this topic go ahead and post in this thread and I'll try to answer them as best I can along with anyone else who has suggestions and information on this topic as always since we are a community of like-minded persons. Good and safe surfing to you all! :)
I use Norton 360. I am protected. Myself and my family are protected on our cell phones as well. Norton takes care of everything. I've always used Norton. It's done me right more than once or twice. This IS extremely important. The scum of the earth can be relentless.
BD ;D
They are relentless. They have the Internet running amok with bots that don't know a time clock. Luckily, most of them are easy to knock down if you have the right protection.
One other thing I always recommend to anyone with a computer - if you don't actually need Java for some known purpose uninstall it and/or disable it. This is different than javascript which is safer and we all need for most websites. Java is one of the top vectors for infections and malware exploits along with clicking on unknown links and attachments (even it if appears a 'trusted' friend sent them...). If you have to have Java keep it updated and use something that is pretty hot at blocking zero-day exploits.
To my knowledge, I have never had a virus. Been a Mac user for years. I've done viral scans, etc. and never have had a threat detected. Probably shouldn't have mentioned it. Tomorrow, my computer will be frozen up tight. I am very careful about what I open and from whom and reset my browsers frequently. I also have two very techy people, my son and my nephew who are very good in the tech area. One is an electrical engineer who prior to that ran a computer business. The other works for a major corporation as their top internet security guy. He's trained with the FBI and CIA. The FBI tried to recruit him, but they don't pay enough. For weeks, I have been getting a very suspicious email that is not a normal email link. The address contains a website address and I keep deleting and placing them in my spam list, but each day there they are again. I am going to leave this and go to Dan's link. I'm very interested in reading it. I'm sure it has a lot of good advice.
I will be adding more advice as time permits about what to do and not to do. I've talked about it before to some respect but we all need reminders, myself included.
There are lots of phishing email out there from email lists about all of us that try to say they are from someone you know and 'hey, click this great link' or 'have you seen this' etc. etc. Just don't click them.
They are exploits loaders at worst and at least phishing websites. Sometimes they are already shut down but not always. I get these types of email almost daily and sometimes multiple times a day. I have seen some of these links still live too. That means anyone who clicks on them is at risk. You'd be surprised how many well known antivirus programs fail protecting people from these kinds of websites and attacks.
There are websites that test antivirus programs comparatively that can help you pick the best one, or trust me and buy Emsisoft. It always finish at the top or very near the top in tests against viruses and malware.
If you ever want to double-check a link to see if it is authentic you can go to Sucuri and use their free website scanner at: https://sitecheck.sucuri.net/
But, like navigation or any other meticulous necessity don't only go by their results because malware sites can be very good at detecting search engines and testing sites to try to fool them and hide their ill intent. Sucuri will tell you if the IP/website is blacklisted by major sites, and will warn you if malicious scripts or other risky software issues are detected.
My nephew works in internet security and gets all kinds of new gadgets to use to see how they may affect his client. One is a device as small as a transistor radio, if you're old enough to know what those were. He can walk through a mall and intercept your cell phone queries, input them into the device and then it redirects your cell phone info to his device and he can have whatever you keep on your phone, all while your phone thinks it's linking to one of your aps for Star Bucks, Krispy Kreme, or any other store in the mall. Whenever you travel though a mall and you have use one of the store sites or wifi, your phone, on its own, will seek out those stores. His device intercepts these signals. His advice is to keep you wifi off in malls or areas where large numbers of people congregate.
I have software on my phone that will make it hard for that tactic to work against my phone. I got it from the same company referenced in my article above. I don't like to share some things :D