IT Security & Network Security News & Reviews: How Security Experts Dodge Scams, Malware Online

eWeek, By, Fahmida Rashid

The headlines can get pretty terrifying. Facebook spam, malware on the Android Market, fake Microsoft Updates, drive-by-downloads, poisoned search results, and the list goes on and on. Just as wearing a seat belt in the car doesn’t mean you’ll never get hurt in a car accident, there are no hard and fast rules on keeping your computers and mobile devices from getting infected or compromised. However, there are certain basic steps that can help minimize risk. “Be paranoid about everything,” advises Eugene Kaspersky, the charismatic CEO of Kaspersky Lab. “Be sensible,” suggested Roel Schouwenberg, a senior antivirus researcher on Kaspersky Lab’s Global Research and Analysis Team. Instead of asking what we should be doing to protect ourselves, eWEEK put Kaspersky analysts and researchers on the spot to ask what they do to stay safe online, since they know better than most people what the dangers are. As expected, every member of the team touted the importance of running reputable antivirus applications with the most up-to-date definitions. Some of the tips weren’t really applicable to most computer users, such as senior security researcher Stefan Tanase’s advice: “Don’t analyze malware on your normal computer.”

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