majorsuave

April 27, 2009 at 5:56pm

Oops. you spelled it TROGAN.

 

FrancesTheMute

April 27, 2009 at 9:06am

I'm disappointed.  I was hoping for something cool like the Conficker causing a zombie apocalypse or something.

I Jedi

April 27, 2009 at 5:43am

What most people fail to do is realize that they can make themselves 100% safer by following and practicing safe-web browsing. These are several steps that I personally follow and it has worked great for me for the past two years now...

 One: Never visit sites you don't know/trust. Obviously visiting a new site you can never know if you can trust them or not, which is why I recommend users get HauteSecure and Web of Trust (WOT) They are both community based and sites are rated on rather they're safe, bad, contain inappropriate content, etc. Lastly, use common sense.. Don't go around just clicking every link your mouse pointer can find..

 Two: Download and use a host file for Windows users. A GREAT host file that eliminates DOZENS upon DOZENS of bad sites can be found here at: http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm The host file will COMPLETELY block all incoming transmissions from a site blacklisted on the host file. Best of all, you can add your own sites, too, by editing the host file in notepad. 

Three: Never download files at random and don't accept files from unstrusted sources. This is probably the golden rule of web surfing and it is a rule generally broken on a daily bases by millions. Do Not Download that which you DO NOT trust, know what it is, and whom it came from. Right there you eliminate a huge risk to yourself and to your computer.

Four: Get a good anti-virus program, anti-spyware, anti-malware, etc.. Run them AT LEAST once a week. I prefer to run my anti-virus program, though, on a daily bases. It is important to the security of your information, your computers state of health, etc. The faster you catch a dangerous file, the better.

Here is a good article to protecting yourself in step four:

http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic58138.html

 

Five: Choose a good, safe web browser. I'm personally attached to Firefox, but that's just me. Choose one with GOOD protection. I DON'T recommend Internet Explorer, as it takes forever for M$ to update it when vulnerabilities are discovered.

Lastly: You, you, you, and you are the most safest way to ensure that your computer remains clean, happy, and ready to use at your disposal. You are the man behind the chair making the calls where you go on your computer, so be smart, be safe, and be cautious. This does not mean you have to act like its defcon 1 and you're going to be attacked at every second possible, no. However, it does mean that you should be cautious about what you do online, but DONT be a looney and act like you've got to unplug your Internet conection everytime you walk away from the computer.

 Just look at Gordon... He never uses protection online and says he never gets screwed over because he's safe, he says, about what he does online. (Though I think he's nuts for it.)

Tyler

Cache

April 27, 2009 at 3:50am

You know, just once I'd almost like to see something like this just cause hard drive damage and screw over millions of people.  NOT because I want to see all those people suffer or anything like that, but maybe if something big like millions of people with data loss occurred, people would really start taking antivirus more seriously.  Not to mention that the government would be forced to start finding the people who create/use these things.  Sure, it's a sucky way to motivate people, but figure seat belts weren't mandatory until people started adding up the body count.

devin3627

April 26, 2009 at 11:55pm

Pathetic. People with no lives.