To Protect Yourself From Unpleasant Situations | Total Security

To protect yourself from unpleasant situations, you must observe the utmost care and safety rules on the Internet. Remember: you cannot be confident in a person you do not know personally, so distrust in absentia to any new acquaintance is a completely justified measure. Do not provide any personal information about yourself, especially about accounts, contacts and personal data. The less an attacker knows about you, the less he can do. Do not accept any files from unverified people, much less install them. For the sent "funny chip" or "toy" may turn out to be a Trojan or a virus that will cause a lot of trouble. 

Internet Behavior

Do not take all the words of Internet interlocutors at face value. Messages like “urgently put money into my account, then I'll return it” or “call me on such and such a number” in 100% of cases will turn out to be a divorce. Also, do not follow the links, even if it is supposedly a page with someone's photos. At best, advertising or pornography will be at this address, at worst - under their cover you will also receive a virus as a gift.  

When shopping online, be

Be extremely careful when shopping online. Carefully study the store's website and methods of transferring funds. Study reviews from other customers and check blacklists on the web. Under no circumstances should you buy dubious goods like the secret “how to use mobile communication for free” or “how to seduce any girl in 5 minutes”. Usually, fraud is hidden behind such ads, and you will not be able not only to “use your mobile phone for free”, but also to get your money back. 

 

Browser and Windows

blockers Many dangers await an inexperienced user when using the Internet. One of them is the popular Windows blocker known as Winlock. This malicious code can be easily obtained if you open suspicious links and forget to regularly update your antivirus databases. When Windows starts, Winlock displays a message on top of all windows stating that access to the system is blocked, and for this window to disappear, you need to send a paid SMS message.

The program is aimed at naive users who believe what is written. A window that appears on top of all windows prompts you to enter a registration code, ostensibly to register an unlicensed copy of Windows. To receive a registration code, you need to send an SMS message, the price of which ranges from 200 to 300 rubles. Of course, the scammers have nothing to do with the official dealers of the Windows operating system. Attackers take advantage of the fact that most users use pirated versions of the OS on their home computers. By the way, the registration code for Windows is bought on the Microsoft website and from official dealers, and this is not done using SMS at all.

The virus does not always pretend to be a Windows registrar, some ask to extend access to erotic materials (hello visitors to porn sites) or accuse the user of storing illegal information. Several Trojans scare them that the system will be destroyed within 24 hours if no SMS is sent.

There are also ransomware “brothers” that copy the interface of popular programs. They block certain applications, not the entire system at once. For example, one of the Trojans convinces the user that he has violated the license agreement of the free (!) Download Master program and does not allow him to use it. A particularly impudent type of virus disguises itself as Kaspersky Anti-Virus and requires an SMS for renewing the license. By the same principle, browsers are blocked, preventing the user from loading Internet pages.

Of course, you don't need to send a message, unless you want to share your money with the extortionists. The virus can be easily removed by a computer security professional or even an experienced user. Also, the specialists of Doctor Web and Kaspersky Anti-Virus have developed a special form in which you can enter the text of the intended SMS-message and get the unlock code.

Interestingly, some viruses self-destruct 2 hours after launch, if the unlock code is not entered during this time. You can try to get rid of the Trojan yourself, but this should only be done by experienced users.

It is quite easy to get rid of a blocker Trojan, but remember that trying to get money from an honest user is not only ugly but also illegal. The actions taken by fraudsters are criminal in nature, as they are deception and extortion at the same time. Criminal liability for the creation, use and distribution of malicious programs for computers is provided for in Article 273 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Add to this fraud (Article 159) and extortion (Article 163), and we get the corpus delicti, for which the attackers will be imprisoned for a term of seven to fifteen years with confiscation of property.

Not all users are content with antivirus services. It is not enough for them to simply get rid of the Trojan. LJ user with the nickname passive decided to punish the scammers with the help of the law, for which he sent an SMS message to the number indicated by the extortionists and wrote a statement to the police. He left a detailed description of his actions on his blog, as a result of which he received many reviews and comments.

It is much easier to take care of the total security of your computer in advance. To do this, you need to follow the banal security rules:

1) Always keep the antivirus turned on and regularly update its databases

2) Do not click on dubious links and do not install unknown applications on your computer