Are You A Step Ahead Of Malicious Hackers?

Cybercriminals are out to make a quick buck from you whether you like it or not.

Did you know that using popular social networks such as Twitter or Facebook put you at risk of malware parasites and relentless hackers take advantage of your natural weaknesses?

These days cybercriminals' techniques vary but they all still take advantage of our human instinct. The technique malware creators use can be summed up in the three words: Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FOD). If you experience FOD, you may often stop thinking clearly and react instinctively, often making rash decisions to protect yourself. This is exactly what the creator of the malware wants.

What do can you do now to protect yourself?

The counter-measures against this are quite simple: Take a breath, stop and think! The malware on your PC could produce a popup warning which states: "Copyright violation: privacy content detected. Windows has detected that you are using content that was downloaded violating copyright of its respective owners. Please read the following bulleting and try to solve the problem by one of the recommended ways." Many times computer users to not realize that a large percentage of online warning messages are false and were created to have you gain enough interest that you click on the wrong thing. Social networks are flooded with similar tactics and it is up to you to be cautious.

Be calm and investigate the claims that the malware makes, such as:

• Is the alleged content actually present on your computer? If so, is it really illegal?
• Is it likely that the copyright owner would use software to get into touch with those who infringe owners' rights?
• Do the authorities in your country use this type of software to investigate criminal activity?

So, basically all you have to do is use your common sense on top of any knowledge that you have obtained from some basic research. Do not let fear control you and trick you into being another hapless victim of malware and cybercrime. Also make sure you have a legitimate updated anti-spyware program to identify and terminate threats which may attack your computer as a proactive measure to keep yourself protected. It is usually the ones that do not take proactive measures to protect themselves who end up being a victim of the bad-side of the internet.