Computer Download Saftey

Secure Computer  Technology has made strives to make the internet as cross platform as possible, meaning regardless if it a Windows, Apple or Mobile device most sites work across all these platforms with minimal or no downloads.  Yet, we still can’t get completely away from the downloads, whether it is games or specialized applications for watching videos or even site plugins and this is where malicious programs love to hide, in the areas where you still need to download file.
There are tons of bad sites out there that host legitimate looking files or just a link to a file that you may need (or think you need), and that’s when you download the program and it may or may not work, but unbeknownst to the user, malware or viruses have been installed on your device.  This is bad for several reason, mostly because you don’t want software on your computer doing anything you don’t want it to do.  So now that you are scared (hopefully) what can you do to protect yourself.

 

  1. Only Download files from trusted sites
    This sounds easy, but can really be difficult to sort out online.  The best recommendation I can give you, if in doubt google the site name with the word scam after it…you’ll get a good idea if the site is legitimate or not.
  2. Don’t download anything from emails, unless you are expecting it
    This is new twist on a common issue, I’ve gotten emails from people I know, with a convincing body to the email with a link to download a file.  We use to just not download from stangers but now, don’t download if you aren’t expecting and email from a person.  I email a lot of people back and ask if they really did send it.
  3.  Run a malware/adware software regularly
    While most virus scanners have malware or adware support built into them, I’ve never really found them that useful on their own.  I usually have atleast 1 other malware scanner on the computer, which I run regularly just to catch anything.

These are some simple tips that can help keep you safe while download.  It’s not foolproof, but every step you make to keep yourself safe makes the likelihood of having a computer infected with viruses and malware, and a chance of loosing private or sensitive information to hackers, down to as close to zero as possible.

 

Are there any tips or tricks you use to download files are keep yourself safe, let me know in the comments section below.

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