ePCdoctor.com 3.1

http://epcdoctor.com/ernie/?p=209 http://bit.ly/7tkFCw

When you’re surfing the web it’s like taking a drive in your car, you’re going to come across bad neighborhoods and good neighborhoods. It could be that you followed a link looking for something that looked interesting or useful but then got bombarded with pop-ups. What I hate even more is when something starts to download automatically and you can’t back your way off the site or stop the download quickly enough to prevent a potential disaster.

Today, I made a wrong turn in a bad part of town or internet I should say. I couldn’t click out of the browser and I literally wanted to throw my computer across the room. I started to panic a little when nothing I was doing worked. Unfortunately, the louder you curse, not the better your PC works….

One of the ways Trojans spread is just like this. You follow a link and bam, something begins to download or you try closing a pop-up and instead of it closing, it starts installing something on your computer.

Usually the really deceptive pop-ups are made to look like fake security warnings:

This is what occurred today, I was faced with a pop-up like this and something began to automatically install on my PC. But if you think about it, how many other people, without knowing any better, actually click on the warning? How many times have you gone to a website where something starts to immediately download itself? Somewhat frequently right? That’s why this is the subject of my post today.

The really tricky thing about these “security warning” pop-ups, is that the “x” in the upper right hand corner doesn’t close it, rather it begins a download of something unknown and unwelcome onto your PC. In fact, clicking anywhere on these things will have the same effect, even the “No” button. The best thing to do in this sort of situation is NOT to click anywhere on the pop-up but back your way off the site or close your browser all together.

The next thing you should do is a deep scan with your antivirus/antispyware software and cross your fingers that your PC did not get infected. If such an infection goes unnoticed, it can really screw with your computer system. You can keep your PC speedy and clean by installing and using legit antispyware or antivirus software as well as a good firewall to prevent unwanted downloads.

So, my advice to you, next time you’re in that shady part of town, lock your car doors, or your PC!

RT @filehippo: Thunderbird 3.0 http://www.filehippo.com/download_thunderbird/