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Criminals
are always finding new ways to infect your computer, the following
are some of the common methods.
Network
worms can infect computers without a firewall. You do not have to
do anything, just turn the computer on with a live Internet
connection and they will find you. Windows XP with SP2 installed
and Vista have a built-in firewall.
Internet
Explorer has a feature called ActiveX that allows you to
automatically run programs from the Internet. Hackers have found
ways to use this to automatically download and run viruses from
infected websites. Hackers are also constantly looking for flaws
in other programs that allow them to install malware.
Sites
that offer pornography and illegal software (Warez) are notorious
for hosting malware. However these are not the only dangerous
sites. Celebrity pages, music lyrics, they will create infected
pages for any popular topic. Hackers can even infect innocent
sites without the site owner knowing
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Viruses
can be attached to email messages. Older versions of Outlook
Express may automatically run these viruses without asking you.
All
types of tricks are used to get you to download and run malware.
It may be a message that you have an electronic greeting card
from a friend, pictures of the latest celebrity, software to
remove spyware, you won a competition (that you never entered),
the IRS wants to audit you, anything to get you to interested in
clicking on the link or opening a file.
Malware
is often bundled together with free software. The software
agreement does not mention the bundled adware or buries it deep
in a long legal document that you never notice. Examples include
the now extinct Bonzi Buddy, the P2P program Kazaa and games by
Zango.
File
sharing or P2P programs like Limewire allow you to download files
from other users over the Internet. Many of the files you
download from strangers are actually viruses pretending to be
music or videos.
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