Category Archives: Viruses

Viruses, Trojans, and Other Malware

Avast! Lays Claim to Being World’s Most Popular Antivirus

Posted on December 1, 2011 by John Woodman

Avast! Lays Claim to Being World’s Most Popular Antivirus

Only a couple of years ago, Avast! was a decent antivirus program with a control panel that I regarded as very user-unfriendly.

It took the form of some kind of weird music player, described by some as a “car radio.” You would press the “Play” button if you wanted to scan for viruses, and it always struck me as very strange and user-unfriendly.

Then in the summer of 2009, the makers of Avast! gave up on their need to be “more creative” than everybody else, abandoned the music-player look, and came out with a clean, simple control panel that was a lot like everybody else’s — except possibly even cleaner and simpler.

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Malware Warning: Avoiding Personal Security / Security Tool

Posted on January 15, 2010 by John Woodman

Malware Warning: Avoiding Personal Security / Security Tool

There is currently a pretty widespread attack going on by two variations of the old “your computer is infected with viruses” scam.

This scam consists of a program that will infect your computer and then harass you in an attempt to extort money from you. The program attacks your legitimate antivirus software and Windows itself, and makes your computer nearly unusable until it is dealt with.

It informs you that you are infected with numerous viruses, and that scanning with Personal Security (or Security Tool) is the answer that will fix the problems.

For a price, of course.

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Posted in Advice, Scams, Security, Viruses | Comments Off

AVG users: It’s time to update to the new version, 9.0…!

Posted on November 25, 2009 by John Woodman

AVG users: It’s time to update to the new version, 9.0…!

November 2009 — If you’re using AVG as your antivirus, you’ve probably seen some popup windows appearing lately telling you that it’s now time to “upgrade” your AVG antivirus.

In this post, I will tell you how to get the new free version of AVG. And we’ll also run through how to update if you’re using the paid version.

First, though, a few words on the current antivirus (and virus) situation in general.

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Posted in Advice, Security, Viruses | Tagged savings, security, virus | Comments Off

Multiple Layers of Computer Security

Posted on November 20, 2009 by John Woodman

Multiple Layers of Computer Security

16-layers This week I talked with a man who’s concerned about security. That’s not at all unusual — most of us have some computer-related security concerns.

But this particular man’s small business requires him to deal with some confidential customer information that he in no way wants compromised. So for him, it’s a bigger issue than it is for the typical home user.

As with most things security-related (whether it be home security, airline security, personal security or national security), there’s no single all-in-one solution. Any good solution to security (in whatever realm) is likely to involve multiple layers.

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Posted in Security, Viruses | Tagged security | Comments Off

What it Takes to Really Fix a Virus-Laden Computer

Posted on November 2, 2009 by John Woodman

What it Takes to Really Fix a Virus-Laden Computer

“Click here for the scan you computer.”

I just got off the phone with a woman who told me she had a computer that was probably well-infected with viruses and other malware, and she wanted to know how much it would cost to fix it.

When I told her the likely cost, she said, “Okay, thank you,” and hung up.

Now I’m sure that Tina will find somebody to do the job (sort of) for less than I typically charge for a job of this type.

And she’ll probably get about what she paid for.

Or, maybe not.

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Posted in Advice, Buying, Case Studies, Viruses | Tagged cost, value, virus | Comments Off

Viruses Redirect Google Searches to Annoying Ads

Posted on September 12, 2009 by John Woodman

Viruses Redirect Google Searches to Annoying Ads

One of this year’s big adware scams has been redirecting search engine results to advertising sites.

For example, you do a Google search for “cell phones.” The first search result provides a link for a major cell phone company.

Only when you click on the link, you get an advertising site instead, trying to sell you something. After all, buying some Viagra was what you really had in mind when you searched for info on a cell phone, isn’t it?

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Posted in Viruses | Tagged google-redirect, virus | Comments Off