Joseph Fisher

I first wrote about the dangers of phishing scams in the early 2000′s. I posted some tips on my old freelance company’s website, back in the pre-blog days. While I don’t have the original post anymore, the good news is the same tactics that I suggested then are still helpful today. And the even better news is there are a few new tools that can help you avoid falling prey to scammers.

Phishing scams are attempts by criminals to obtain personal information from you. It first started in the late 90′s when spammers needed to find legitimate e-mail addresses to use for their bulk mailings. Legitimate addresses were less likely to get caught in anti-spam filters, which were becoming commonplace at the Internet Service Provider (ISP) level.

The typical phishing scam we see today is an official (or not so official) looking message that claims to be your ISP’s support department. The message demands you respond with your username, password, and possibly other details, lest your account be deactivated. Some of these messages are easy to spot as forgeries. For example, I received the following message the other day on my UGA e-mail account:

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Computer viruses have been a major frustration for computer users and IT staff for decades. And it’s particularly costly to business, as companies must hire IT workers to clean infected machines, absorb non-productive downtime in their employees, and possibly lose valuable data. Estimates vary widely, and it’s very hard to say what the exact cost is. But I think we can all agree that it’s an avoidable disruption. Much like your personal health, prevention is by far the most effective strategy at combating pesky computer-based critters.

Malware vs. Virus

Computer terminology is never-ending, so I’m not surprised that people are confused about what’s what. Malware is software designed to secretly access a computer system without the owner’s informed consent, while a viruses is malware that replicates. The term “malware” is an umbrella, under which the term “virus” falls. Some of the nastier programs I’ve dealt with haven’t ever tried to replicate – they only try to prey on your computer.

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