As your local fishbat Long Island advertising agency can tell you, computer viruses come in many forms. One of the sneakiest, not to mention most potentially frightening, is scareware. This can occur when you click on a site, which shows a flashing or bold message telling you that you have to call a number, download a program, or perform some other option to fix your seemingly infected computer. Here is what you should know about scareware so that you stay safe online.
For those that are unaware, scareware is designed to trick people that click onto seemingly reliable sites. This type of virus usually takes the form of a pop-up ad, which tells the user that their computer has been infected. They will also say that, in order for the problem to be corrected, a program or app has to be downloaded. The problem is that this type of software is usually infected with some type of virus. In fact, it's possible that it can steal one's personal data, potentially resulting in digital theft.
Another concern related to scareware is the possibility of one's computer being locked. What this means is that unless the prompt on the pop-up is followed, the user won't be able to perform any other action. What this means is that some users may follow the pop-up's instructions, which leads to the aforementioned viruses. For those that would like to know how to combat this problem in the first place, the following information provided by the likes of fishbat should prove useful.
To protect yourself from scareware scams in the future, keep your software as up-to-date as possible. This includes everything from your preferred browser to any antivirus software that you may be running. After all, as viruses become more sophisticated, technology must evolve in order to combat them. Updates serve this purpose so when new versions come out, it's imperative that you install them as soon as possible.
If pop-ups begin to show up in large numbers, don't become stressed; this may make you more likely to click their links. Instead, try to close out these windows as best as you can. Otherwise, you may have to do a hard shutdown of your computer before rebooting it again. Once this is done, play it safe by running a full virus scan. By doing so, you'll be able to clear any viruses that may be lingering on your system.
For those that are unaware, scareware is designed to trick people that click onto seemingly reliable sites. This type of virus usually takes the form of a pop-up ad, which tells the user that their computer has been infected. They will also say that, in order for the problem to be corrected, a program or app has to be downloaded. The problem is that this type of software is usually infected with some type of virus. In fact, it's possible that it can steal one's personal data, potentially resulting in digital theft.
Another concern related to scareware is the possibility of one's computer being locked. What this means is that unless the prompt on the pop-up is followed, the user won't be able to perform any other action. What this means is that some users may follow the pop-up's instructions, which leads to the aforementioned viruses. For those that would like to know how to combat this problem in the first place, the following information provided by the likes of fishbat should prove useful.
To protect yourself from scareware scams in the future, keep your software as up-to-date as possible. This includes everything from your preferred browser to any antivirus software that you may be running. After all, as viruses become more sophisticated, technology must evolve in order to combat them. Updates serve this purpose so when new versions come out, it's imperative that you install them as soon as possible.
If pop-ups begin to show up in large numbers, don't become stressed; this may make you more likely to click their links. Instead, try to close out these windows as best as you can. Otherwise, you may have to do a hard shutdown of your computer before rebooting it again. Once this is done, play it safe by running a full virus scan. By doing so, you'll be able to clear any viruses that may be lingering on your system.
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