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Religious and ideological web pages are more dangerous than pornographic sites with regard to malware infection according to the latest Internet Security Threat Report (PDF) from Symantec. In fact, pages featuring adult content didn’t even make the top five most infected list, instead placing tenth overall.
Symantec found that religion-based sites on average have three times the number of threats as opposed to pornographic sites. It may sound a bit farfetched but the reasoning behind the numbers is pretty legitimate.
The security firm believes that because pornographic website owners already make money from the service they provide, they have a vested interest in maintaining a satisfied customer base. Loading a customer’s computer with click-generating malware would, in the short term, net increased revenue from fraudulent ad clicks but at the same time, would drive away repeat business. It’s a business model that’s ultimately set up for failure.
Hackers know that “trusted” sites like those based around religion generally seem safer to the public and as such, make a perfect target for malware.
Topping the list of most dangerous website categories for 2011 was blogs / web communications sites, followed by hosting / personal hosted sites and business / economy pages; shopping sites and education / reference pages round out the top five.
Data from the report was collected through the Symantec Global Intelligence Network which is comprised of nearly 65 million “attack sensors” that monitor activity in more than 200 countries.
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"What I do care about is those who cite fallacy as proof of their argument. Citing fallacy
results in empty arguments; unless, of course, those who cite fallacy really are ignorant,
and there was a study done over 10 years ago that provided evidence that the ignorant have
no clue that they are, in fact, ignorant." Ryan, I enjoy a good rant as much as the next person, possibly more. With that said, let me try to teach you how to get the most mileage from a rant. You should encapsulate the sentence or paragraph which you're responding to in quotes. In a forum context, this is the most effect way to construct an exchange of opinion.
For example, Let's say, I believe your first paragraph was nonsense, and you were talking in circles. I'm going to respond to it individually. I open the reply in another tab, then copy and paste just the paragraph into my reply, thus
"What I do care about is those who cite fallacy as proof of their argument. Citing fallacy
results in empty arguments; unless, of course, those who cite fallacy really are ignorant,
and there was a study done over 10 years ago that provided evidence that the ignorant have
no clue that they are, in fact, ignorant." Then I say, "Ryan", this is BS, you're trolling.....
In any event, you can break down a post into sections, then copy and paste the originator's quote box, ahead of the segment you'd like to respond to. Then you can type the close quote instruction, " ", (without the quote marks. Ironic, I know.) to close the section and then reply to just that.
You can also use ("
icon in the menu bar to quote without personal reference.Just select the text you want to quote, then click the iconApologies for the double post. The line spacing got all messed up
/retry Yeah, I hear you with that. This server has developed a couple of interesting quirks of late
let me try to teach you how to get the most mileage from a rant. You should encapsulate the sentence or paragraph which you're responding to in quotes. In a forum context, this is the most effect way to construct an exchange of opinion.For example, Let's say, I believe your first paragraph was nonsense, and you were talking in circles. I'm going to respond to it individually. I open the reply in another tab, then copy and paste just the paragraph into my reply, thus
Then I say, "Ryan", this is BS, you're trolling.....
In any event, you can break down a post into sections, then copy and paste the originator's quote box, ahead of the segment you'd like to respond to. Then you can type the close quote instruction, "[ /quote ]", (without the quote marks. Ironic, I know.) to close the section and then reply to just that.
Actually, I do it a different, but equally as effective way.
Simply hit the reply, which quotes the entire post. Then you can find what you want to argue on (delete stuff before it as necessary) and then at the end of the statement you dispute, simply put a [ /quote ] there (remove the spaces though). Then find the next part that you want to debate, and go up to the very beginning of your reply box and copy that portion, in this case it is: [ quote="captaincranky, post: 1175721, member: 99521" ] again removing the spaces after [ and before ].
You can also use (" icon in the menu bar to quote without personal reference. That works too, but its less personal.
Actually, I do it a different, but equally as effective way. We're saying the same thing, it unfortunately is a bit more difficult to explain in a fully coherent manner, than it is to do after a bit of practice.
I work across multiple tabs, especially if I would like to engage more than one member in the exchange.
With that said, yes it is also quite workable to hold to the OP's quote signature on the clipboard, and copy and paste it into the text as you reply to each point of the dialog. (Obviously typing " " after each passage replied to which you've replied.
My point with even mentioning is, in this forum context, simple quote marks are ineffective in separating the statement for the reply, and after a bit, it's difficult to determine who said what, or even why they said it.
This is where my patience came to an end, as I believe, so did yours.....
A) System Restore is the preferred backup method of viruses and malware, B) most really well-written malware will still load in safe mode by creating a virtual device driver to allow at least some basic functionality when running in safe mode, as well as to shield a portion of it's code from antivirus and anti-malware software.
MBAM isn't nearly as effective in safe mode, as many of the malware infection's components won't be loaded in memory, which is where most well-written exploits take place - in memory. Also, scanning a your drive in another (non-infected) computer (known as offline scanning) is almost completely useless.
MBAM is a great tool, but it's not 100 % effective, and even when it is remediation needs to take place to really clean the system and to close any holes created.
the best methods to protect yourself are:
A) Don't be stupid. Exercise some critical thinking skills before forking over your credit info.
B) frequent backups. Don't really on System Restore. It creates a perfect, encrypted place for viruses and malware to back themselves up, and the OS graciously re-infects itself.
C) Good anti-virus. And by good, I mean good. As in Avast! Free, or Kapersky.
D) Secure your browser...it is the number one infection point.
E) Sandbox, popup blockers, script blockers, flash blockers, etc.
F) Don't be stupid.
If you aren't in the IT field, you probably shouldn't hand out computer security advice, any more than I would ask a mechanic for medical advice. Most of the advice given here is just wrong, with a few exceptions.
I didn't cover every good, basic, common sense security tactic in my comments...but then you can use Google just as effectively as I can.
Google for example - "anti-virus real world protection scores" - it might be eye-opening. You could also try Googling "how can I protect my computer from malware"? Or, "how can I recover from a malware exploit"?
If you do get infected, you can usually head over to bleepingcomputer.com for some very good, very specific advice on how to remove a virus/malware infection the right way, and how to fix all of the traces left behind and problems created.
Finally, know your OS. Know ever executable that should be running on your computer. Learn how to use the task manager to kill processes that shouldn't be running. Learn how to disable things from starting up that shouldn't be starting up.
Most importantly, get a BartPE or WinPE boot disc (mini WIndows on a CD), and download a free copy of SysInternals Suite of tools, every tool of which will run in WIndows PE Autoruns will enable you to hack out almost any startup settings for nefarious programs, and prevent them from loading at startup, even mutating infections.
Nothing hides from Autoruns...not even malware/virus infections hidden as device drivers.
That advice is also nonsense. I've seen Norton Anti-virus ads used as droppers for malware infections.
I think the member has some valid points of potential benefit, but the communication of them fails significantly.
In a "value added" side rant, I would like to know why we have "Techspot Gurus" that simply are either unaware of the edit button, or value its significance? Preferring instead, to happily post one serial post after another.
You can also use ("
icon in the menu bar to quote without personal reference. That works too, but its less personal. I distinctly recall predicting as much.....most of the people you listed would have gotten their heads chopped off for heresy if they publicly denounced god. How do you know their beliefs.
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