Stop Malware Once And Forever By Following Simple Tips Kindly Provided By Semalt

Malware can cause a lot of losses and damages. In the business world, hackers try many tricks to steal money, trade secrets and any information that can profit them. Security tools such as antivirus software, firewalls, and email encryption play a significant role in keeping malware attacks out.

Ivan Konovalov, the Semalt Customer Success Manager, says that there are ways hackers can go around these measures. They often target employees to find a way into an organizations system. Fortunately, if members of staff take the following actions, they will reduce their vulnerability to malware attacks significantly.

1. Know the enemy

Pop-up alerts and website advertisements are a fact of life in the online world. Hackers have invested big time in these two methods. Their alerts and adverts are often aggressively displayed and craftily worded. The ads sell deals that look good. Popups often warn of a fault that needs urgent attention and prompts employees to download repair tools.

These adverts and pop-ups hide links to malicious downloads and sites. Once a user clicks on such links, the malware can auto download. Northeastern University's Office of Information Security advises that workers should avoid such popup windows and only click on legitimate links.

2. Beware of strange links and attachments

According to MakeUseOf, users should refrain from downloading or opening links whose origin and relevance is questionable. While most email services will scan attachments for malware, employees can improve safety by avoiding such unsolicited attachments and links.

3. Scan external storage devices

Now and then files can be transferred from one computer to another using a variety of devices from USB flash drives, memory cards, external hard drives and other devices. These storage devices are often shared and can carry malware from one computer to the other. Before opening the files, scan the storage devices to detect malware as MakeUseOf recommends.

4. If the deal is too good...

People are always attracted to free things. Free games, software, music, and movies are the bait most hackers will use to plant malware into many computers. Most sites offering free downloads are compromised to sneak malware into the system. Northeastern University's Office of Information Security advocates for downloads from trusted sites to reduce this risk.

5. Don't fall for phishing emails

Phishing emails are meant to extract certain information from the recipient using various tactics. The writers of these emails can play a patient game to win trust or use a pretext like you've won the lottery to encourage employees to divulge details like credit card information. Their tactics vary in sophistication and technique.

Workers should shun emails from unknown senders. For the emails which members of staff read, they need to pay attention to the information in case the sender has been hacked.

6. Disable HTML in email

HTML can run scripts. If an infected email is opened, the malware script will automatically run and infect the computer. To avoid this risk, turn off the HTML feature in email. If members of staff must use HTML, they should be sure that the emails are from trusted sources.