How Can You Protect Your Android From Malicious Software

As android devices continue being targeted by hackers and cybercriminals, it is clear that users need to understand the ways in which they can protect their devices from the intruders. Some of the most dangerous malware attacks on androids are fake banking apps, android Geinimi and DroidDream. The fake banking apps lure customers to enter their login information and this compromises their bank accounts.

Similarly, android Geinimi malware corrupts android games download sites and users downloading these games end up infecting their devices. Android fake player manifest as a media player and silently sends SMS to premium phone numbers. Bank accounts, confidential business information and personal details can be stolen by these malware thus causing financial loss and reputation damage.

Apparently, smartphone users are not very keen on malware vulnerabilities of their devices and this means that they are not taking strong measures to curb the problem. There are different ways in which android malware invasions can be prevented. One way in which the malicious software programs and codes are spread is through downloads. The most targeted are games download sites.

It is advisable that users not download apps from unauthorized or illegal apps stores. It is essential that you read and understand apps permissions before you download them. Users need to pay attention to apps they install in their devices. Hackers and phishers use popular apps to spread malware to your android devices. You may think that you are downloading the real legitimate apps but in the real sense, you are infecting your smartphone.

If you see free apps that are mainly found in paid versions, you need to watch out. These spammers will lure you because they know that you will not let go a free app that is initially in paid version. Another way in which you can protect your smartphone device is by using passwords. You also need to make sure that you change your passwords often and not use one password throughout.

Smartphones are mainly targeted because users do not update their operating systems when new versions are released. This is one challenge users have faced. In addition, some carriers and manufacturers of android devices are releasing older OS platforms in the market, giving hackers an opportunity to invade the devices. Users should make sure that they get the latest secure versions of operating systems immediately they are released in the market.

Moreover, users should refrain from sharing their confidential or personal information in public internet connections like Wi-Fi. Installing antivirus and anti-malware programs that are sourced from reputable companies is another way in which users can protect their devices from attackers. Such anti-malware apps help detect and remove malware from your smartphone.

The anti-malware programs should also be updated regularly to make sure that they are able to detect and remove newer versions of malicious codes. In a nutshell, android users should get more information about their device vulnerabilities and how they can keep off from the attackers. This will ensure that they do not infect their androids with malicious software that could steal their confidential information

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Invasion of the E-Mail Snatchers - A Halloween Story

October 31, near the witching hour. Darkness engulfed the land. A weak light from a lamppost uncovers a thin line of mist that runs across the street. Suddenly, leaves rustle, swept by a gust of wind.The night is moonless. A howl breaks the silence.

In a dark room, a blue light flickers.

A bodiless head makes its appearance.

It's Alice, Alice Blooper, screen saver/ cursor. "Hey, hey, what do you say!" Alice blurts out.

A hard guitar rift comes off the speakers, Alice segues into a song "What have I got?"

"Cut it off Alice and get me to my email" I curtly responded.

"Very good sir"

The app is from a tekkie master friend of mine, totally out of this world. He pasted voice recognition programs from telephones, slapdashed animations and a bit of that jeeves thingy to give responses.

Anyway, I have had problems with my e-mail for several months. It had suddenly been hard to access.

Well, you know the drill, the host asks for your address and password. In my case, after posting the password, the screen shows the dialogue box that requests for a phone number. Has that happened to you?

After posting the country origin and phone number, another dialogue box appears requesting for a code. A few minutes later, the phone alarms for a text message and gives out a code. Sometimes, the program denies the code it sent and takes a couple of tries before access.

In the last several months, this box requesting a phone number replaced the box that requested account holders to copy the figures inside the box. It had become difficult to read my mail.

Wrong Turn. Problems with my e-mail started several months earlier when I opened an e-mail of a female co-worker and got surprised. The e-mail came attached with family pictures and then some. There appeared bare back poses, breastfeeding ones, all probably taken by the husband and for private viewing. I immediately closed the page, well, after another viewing or two. She did have a nice back.

Seeing her at the office, I asked about it. Having not deleted the file, I showed her. Boy, was she surprised, red-faced and all. Needless to say, the files were immediately deleted.

In another instance, I again received an email from another co-worker, also female and upon opening, popped went an ad for a sex potency drug. The ad was almost R, nice actually. Of course, I asked my co-worker about it because we never communicated through the email, unlike the first one. She told me my email ad was in her address box for information.

A few months later, my e group started sending me messages about weird e-mails I've been supposedly sending. My account sent pictures, draft agreements, reports, all by itself.

Apparently, a virus infected my unit and opened my folders and started sending e-mails of my files to others. Why would someone want to do that?

Jigsaw. The solution had been there in front of me all along which I just deliberately ignored. The host warned, before opening the mails, that it thought the account was compromised, suggesting a change of password. So I changed my password and presto, access problem went away, temporarily, maybe.

Does the change in password neutralize a virus?

I continue to receive junk mail, now from my e-group. Those without subjects, I immediately delete, which I also do for mails from people in the office. There are mails about products that I also delete.

Shining. Donald opened his mouth wide and let out a high-pitched noise of an alien.

I caught the movie's last frame waking up from a light sleep at my desk top.

"Alice close the TV then log off"

"Very good sir"

As I walked to my bed Alice starts to sing 'sunrise'. It was my alarm for my morning run.

"Alice shut up!"

"Very Good sir."

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Remove All Those Fake Computer Repair Programs

There are tons of fake computer repair programs on the internet today. For the average user they can be rather confusing as they make these ridiculous claims of being able to repair your system from a plethora of errors that are supposedly invading your system. You should be very weary of these programs.

How do these programs work?

These fake repair programs work by getting onto your computer, maybe through an email or web application and then imitating a real security scan suite, they will present you with a number of problems that are supposedly bedevilling your system. Once it's finished running its fake registry or virus scan, it will then try and get you to buy the software. It's very important that you do not fall victim to this scam. In addition, the developers of these fake programs will also attempt to take control of your system, rendering your system inoperable, messing with your applications and stealing personal data. Fake messages will continually show up on your screen listing a number of errors on your system, all of which is designed to make you think your system is error prone.

How do you remove these programs?

So, if you have accidentally installed one of these programs onto your system, what can you do to remove them? Well, there are a number of applications that you can use, most notably Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, which is a tool that you can use to easily remove these kinds of programs from your computer. The first thing that you will need to do is find this program and install it on your system, a quick Google search should be sufficient in finding it. An anti-malware program is exactly what you need to get rid of programs like this. There are quite a few on the market, but the one I recommended is currently the best.

Once you have the anti-malware program installed on your system, you may have to reinstall some other security programs, depending on what you're currently using. If the fake repair program is fully entrenched on your system, then it may try and prohibit you from installing the program. If that happens, then you should consider logging into safe mode, and downloading and installing the program from there. If you've noticed that one of these programs has taken a hold of your system, do not fail to act. Take the necessary actions to have your system cleaned.

Uchenna Ani-Okoye has been writing articles online for many years now. For information on electronic gadgets and computers, including any questions that you may want answered, advice on specific products and recommendations, check out his latest websites kindle wifi and running windows system restore

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How to Pick the Best Antiviral Solution for Your Computer

The concept that is behind computer viruses was never defined nor identified since their inception during the dawn of the Computer Age. It was only in 1983 that American computer expert Fred Cohen came out with the formal definition for computer viruses; he identified them as malicious applications that can change critical system data in computers, eventually corrupting them. He likened these computer "viruses" to real-world viral organisms that can replicate themselves and proliferate through the Web, in the process infecting other host computers. Also, like their organic cousins, they can make copies of themselves in the host computer or system that they occupy. Software that can counter them are available and antivirus reviews discuss their feature and rate their effectiveness.

Viral programs are created to change and corrupt important system data or files, causing the infected PC or laptop to slow down and eventually crash. To counter them, antiviral applications have been created to secure your computer from malicious software that lurk within the Internet. However, there would be times that you find yourself lost when choosing for the right antiviral solution for your PC or laptop. You may belong to the majority of computer users who at best have a rudimentary knowledge of computers and the Internet, and don't have the professional know-how to tell apart one viral program from the other. Because of this, you will have to be extra careful while you figure out what antiviral or anti-malware program is right for your PC or laptop and you should avoid spending on features and utilities that you don't need.

In picking the best antiviral solution for your computer, you should first determine its level of protection; you should know what kind of malware it is meant to deal with and how effective it is in identifying and removing them. Browse online antivirus reviews and computer magazines and read the product data of the antiviral solution that you intend to buy. This way, you can have a general notion of the antiviral solution that you have in mind and the level of security that it can provide to your computer.

Secondly, you must see to it that you easily understand and able to use the interface of the antiviral product that you intend to get for your computer. Study the program's user manual if it is available and pore over expert and user-generated antivirus reviews concerning it. Consider this as a rule of thumb: If you don't have any idea on its usage, chances are that it is of no use to you at all.

The third thing to consider is whether the antiviral product that you have in mind can regularly update itself via the Internet. There is always the threat of new and unidentified computer viruses that are spread over the Web. Your chosen antiviral program must be able to update itself and have access to new patches and malware data for it to deal with these new threats. If it lacks this capability, look for other programs that have it.

The fourth thing for you to look into when selecting the best antiviral product for your computer is the availability of technical service and customer support. If you have any questions or issues about your antiviral program, you can always ask the help of technical service outlets such as live online chat, e-mail messaging, and contact center support. Top-level antivirus software firms and manufacturers provide these services along with their products.

Also, you must determine how much storage area your chosen antiviral program should need in your computer's hard drive. Some antiviral applications require much hard drive space; try to avoid them altogether. Go for an antiviral product that can run efficiently without you sacrificing much-needed hard disk storage space. Most of the time, these cumbersome antiviral programs often tend to bog down your PC or laptop and cause abysmal run times.

Lastly, the antiviral application that you have selected for your computer must be able to run discreetly and without any active intervention on your part. They don't need you to turn them on and have them check on your computer's functions; they go about their functions automatically.

If you keep these points in mind, you would be able to pick out the best antiviral software to install on your computer. You can also ask the advice of other computer users or read some antivirus reviews and learn what program is best. There are numerous websites, like www.antivirus-reviews.co, that enumerates reasons why a particular program is effective. The price tag is another important thing to consider. Chances are high-priced or premium anti-malware products offer you better security against viruses and malware. Some low-priced or free antiviral programs offer almost equal level of protection that you can find from purchased antiviral software. However, most of the time these free or inexpensive antiviral applications are not capable enough to deal with most viruses and you are better off without them.

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Most Dangerous Computer Viruses on the Internet

Beast Trojan Horse - also known as remote administration tool (RAT)

Trojan horse is basically a standalone malevolent software program which cannot infect a computer automatically unless the virus is executed or the software program containing this virus. Once it gets executed, it will make numerous copies of itself and place them in multiple directories. In this way it can steal secret information from your computer by keystroke logging and damage the system completely. The beast Trojan horse has the capability to reverse connections which is also very harmful.

SQL Slammer - also known as Sapphire.

Its main feature is that it is a file-less worm. It spreads by taking benefit of vulnerabilities found mostly in SQL servers.

It is a mass mailer worm and holds the record of the fastest spreading worm. E-mail attachments are the prime areas which help to spread this worm. When an email attachment includes a subject line like "test", "error", "mail transaction failed", or "mail delivery system" in languages like English and French, then it means a virus. If this mail is executed then the worm is sent to the local files of the user's address book.

Black worm- also known as Mywife, Nyxem, etc.

This worm is spread through the emails that use External SMTP engine. The worm travels with different body texts, subjects, and the attachment names. Moreover, it creates multiple copies of itself and infects the hard drive with same name as in the windows file to remain hidden. The black-worm corrupts the data on every third day of the month. The worst part of this worm is that it can delete antivirus programs if both of them are placed in the same directory.

This worm affects kazaa which is a common file sharing program. This worm is also found in movie and music files. This worm creates multiple copies of itself and anyone users who download movies or music files make their computers infected with this virus.

Numbing Nimda - also known as Concept virus

This worm has the capability to modify executable files and web documents. This virus creates multiple copies of it and spreads as embedded attachments in HTML mail messages. These corrupt e-mail messages when opened by the recipient allow the virus to reach the recipient's computer also. This dangerous virus can also move through server web traffic, a shared hard drive which are infected, downloads, and so on.

This worm is so harmful that it can delete power point, excel, and word files along with other files. This virus travels via e-mails that come from a known recipient. The file containing this virus will show fake error message. It keeps a watch on the inbox of the infected system and then automatically sends replies to different senders.

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