I'm grateful to Jack Schofield at the Guardian newspaper for his recent thoughts on unwanted downloads. Sometimes in our hurry to download legitimate stuff we end up saying yes to additional downloads - toolbars and the like. Mostly they are unnecessary, even if they are safe. Some are downright nasty and to be avoided at all costs.
As Jack says: "Be suspicious of downloads - especially codecs, free music and screensaver downloads - as they often come packaged with malware or unwanted software."
Customers often ask me: "How did the viruses get in? I've got good antivirus and firewall protection." It's a hard one to answer. Most viruses get in from email attachments, dodgy websites, vulnerabilities in out-of-date software, or downloaded files. Usually, I just say: "Well, these modern viruses are very clever, you know!"
But I also advise them (and anyone who'll listen) to save and scan any items they download or that are offered to them on memory sticks, etc. before opening or viewing or playing the file. I save files to the Desktop, and right-click to get a menu where I can choose to scan the file with my antivirus software or any other virus-scanning software I have installed.
Best to play safe - even with files from "trusted" websites.
You all take care, now.
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