At present, the hacker black market is paying $100 per thousand hacked Australian computers. That's correct, there is a black market for hacked computers, and Australian computers are fetching top dollar compared to other countries. Why do you think that Australian computers are getting top dollar? It's because you're easy targets as most of you don't take computer security seriously enough, plus being an affluent country, they can make better money from a hacked Aussie. You could argue the affluent part, depends on whether the banks get your money before the hackers do ;-)
You can secure your computer with all the modern, up-to-date security tools, but if you don't follow safe practices, you're very likely to get hacked or ripped off. It's just like driving a new car, with all the latest safety features, air bags and intelligent breaking systems, if you drive dangerously, you're more likely to crash and get injured.
You need to use some common sense on the Internet, and stay away from sites that are notorious for hacking visitors computers, pornography, software crack, copy violated music sharing and movie sites etc.
File attachments of any sort, arriving in an email, messenger, or chat program, have the potential to be malicious. Wake up! You're in an environment where parcel bombs are common, so you must Xray them first, or refuse to accept any parcels. Do not open any suspicious attachments! Assume all attachments are dangerous! Download every file you think is safe, to a dedicated folder, and always scan it for viruses and spy-ware before opening.
Here is a list of
most common attachment file types, which are very likely to be
infected by viruses. If you get an attachment with the file name
endings shown below, you have received a virus, eg;
filename.pif, delete it!
.pif .bat .com .cmd
.sys .scr .shs .exe .vxd .vbx. .vba .vbs .vhs .xla .lnk .cpl abc.
zlo.
The following files types below, can be sent as
genuine attachments by friends, relatives, or business associates.
.exe .zip .doc .xls .gif .jpg .pdf .pps
This does not mean they're safe. These types of files
can be infected by viruses, trojans and spyware. Any new file
coming into your computer, of any type, should always be virus and
spyware checked, so scan it with an up to date scanner before
opening!
Virus creators will try every trick to get you to
open attachments. One way is to try to disguise them as common file
types, txt, jpg or gif files like so,
image.txt.bat image.gif.vxd image.jpg.bat
Ebay, Paypal, Banks
& Microsoft do not send software fixes, or account ID and
password changing emails. These messages are sent as emails or virus
attachments by virus creators as a trick message!
Web page links in email, messenger, and chat programs, are also dangerous because if you click on the link it can send you to a malicious web page. So always check the address before clicking on the link. You can do this by placing your cursor over the link. This will show the true destination in the status bar at the bottom of the open program window.
International
Lotteries
* You can't win a lottery without purchasing a
ticket!
* Lottery organisations do not ask for a handling
fee!
* Lottery organisations do not need your bank account
details!
* Beware of people who you don't know, who claim to
have access to large sums of money in overseas bank accounts, who are
willing to share it with you!
If you're after that
large amount of money sitting in the foreign bank unclaimed, and
you're told all you need to do is launder it through your bank
account, to get a share, you will be ripped off. How many times do
Aussies need to be told this?