stupid avast

#10
Always keep your anti-virus up to date.
Scan anything you download before you open it.
The phishing scams are easy to avoid - never open a link from an email or 3rd party - type the correct web address in the browser...
Scan your computer with both your up to date anti virus and an anti malware program. periodically.
Password resets - I remember hotmail used to ask a memorable question - like what your favourite colour was - completely daft!!! Don't be tempted to type blue.....choose something obscure like dog....

I meant to add, I used to run AVG all the time and I never had a problem but something happened (can't remember for the life of me what it was) and so I switched to Avast..I can't fault it personally...

Thanks for the reply. I would like to think not opening obscure emails or downloading obscure files which basically scream "I'm going to steal your stuff" is common sense, but apparently it is not, as it is a booming business.

Oh - and the call centres offering computer protection - avoid them. My father was caught out last year - some guy phoned him - told he had errors on the computer and told him to run the 'mstc' command from the cmd window.....my dad - technically curious, foolishly followed the instruction.....No harm was done thankfully but the guy could have wreaked havoc if he'd wanted.....

#13 Yeah - that's why when the lad who had written the chess program posted a link to his program here, AND the file size -160KB made me a bit concerned...

I'll expand a bit on chunkymonkey's answer...

99% of computer security comes from being reasonable in how you go about your online business. You will never get a virus if you keep your wits about. I haven't had a virus or spyware in 7 years, though I did get burnt twice before that and learnt my lesson the hard way.

1. Only use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Do not trust the IE browser. I installed http://portableapps.com/ on my USB drive so I can use my own browser on public or work computers.
2. You want to block ads unless you like a site and want to support it. Even then, only click an ad if it really interests you and don't trust fishy ones that say 'Download / Play now' and the like. I recommend an add-on/extension (available for both Fx and Chrome) called uBlock. github.com/gorhill/uBlock#installation
4. Never install add-ons from untrusted sources (only Mozilla's Add-on page or Chrome's web store, in other words)
5. Avoid anything that has to do with the 3 P's, because like any other vice, they're the top source of malware:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pills%2C_porn_and_poker
6. If you are going to pirate software/films/music/etc, use popular torrents only and NEVER download from one-click hosts (e.g. RapidShare, MediaFire), especially if you just found them on Google. And only go to popular sites like The Pirate Bay or KickAss Torrents and search from there, never just plug it into Google because you'll bump into thousands of malware havens that way.
7. Never give out personal information over email, and especially passwords. And don't trust people who say they've got $45 million in their postbox and need to route it through your bank for some reason, but you'd probably know as much being an LM. :)

All in all, apply real-world principles to avoid scams and theft, and you'll be fine. And remember: vices (like the 3 P's) often draw criminals to them.

It's not just the obscure files, I'm not condoning pirating but some of the big gaming titles have viruses embedded in them.....

That's true. I once got a virus from Age of Empires 2. At the time, Norton failed me, so I switched to Avast, ran a boot time scan, and was saved.

#17

Not all of them do, the top uploaders hold too much value to their name to risk including a virus in one of their popular uploads. It'd shatter their reputation. More often than not, it's just what the antivirus flags as a false positive. Not to say that there aren't viruses and/or malware in the great big sea o'piracy, but it's a lot less common than people believe.

Antivirus protection is well and good in its own right, but it's not enough. An incredibly important factor in keeping your computer secure with today's pace is keeping all your relevant software up to date. Operating system updates, antivirus definitions, antivirus software itself, office productivity suites, and *especially* browsers and browser plugins, which is where most exploits are effectively targeted these days. Chrome autoupdates for a reason.

#19 Can't argue with that - the time frame for when the pirated versions are released can be a big clue...the pirates will race each other to release the first crack, then usually a few weeks after the pirates hard work, the criminal fraternity will start releasing their doctored versions....