Careful where you click

Every computer owner's nightmare: a virus.  While more popular operating systems - especially Windows - are more frequently targeted, any user can catch a virus or be infected with malware.  The world's first virus, Creeper, was relatively harmless.  Active on the ARPANET in the 1970's, it was an experimental and self-replicating program that displayed the message "I'm the creeper, catch me if you can!"  Now-a-days, infections can be much more damaging, even getting financial information from the victim's computer.  Recently, the LizaMoon SQL injection attack has infected the code of over four million websites.  LizaMoon redirects victims to a new site and asks them to install an antivirus.  This "antivirus" actually does no good, by the way.

The good news is that most legitimate virus protection and internet security programs will defend against LizaMoon.

There are some things you can do to protect yourself against malevolent programs.

1. Make sure you have good anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewalls.  
2. Don't open email attachments unless you know and trust the sender.  
3. Keep your anti-virus and anti-spyware software updated.
4. If a virus alert pops up on your screen, don't even touch it.  Not even to close it.  Instead use ctrl+alt+del to open the task manager and close it that way.
5. Likewise, don't trust pop-ups advertising anti-virus software.  They're usually up to no good.
6. Avoid suspicious websites, and don't download from questionable sources.  
7. Be incredibly careful about to whom you provide credit, debit, or other financial information.

Happy surfing, people.  Just wear a life vest.