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Did you know Windows XP is prone to malware?

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CIOL Bureau
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NEW YORK, USA: In recent months, I've met at least three people who have been the victim of hackers who've taken over their Gmail accounts and sent out e-mails to everyone in the address book.

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The e-mails, which appear legitimate, claim that the person has been robbed while traveling and begs that money be wired so that the person can get home. 

Although it's widely believed that a strong password is one of the best defenses against online fraud, hackers increasingly employ highly effective ways for compromising accounts that do not require guessing passwords.

Malware. Sometimes called the "advanced persistent threat," a broad range of software that was programmed with evil intent is running on tens of millions of computers throughout the world.

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These programs can capture usernames and passwords as you type them, send the data to remote websites, and even open up a "proxy" so that attackers can type commands into a Web browser running on your very computer. 

Because antivirus software is failing, many organizations now recommend antediluvian security precautions, such as not clicking on links and not opening files you receive by e-mail unless you know that the mail is legitimate. Unfortunately, there is no tool for assessing legitimacy.

Windows XP According to the website w3schools, roughly 33 percent of the computers browsing the Internet are running Windows XP. That's a problem, because unlike Windows 7, XP is uniquely susceptible to many of today's most pernicious malware threats.

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Kiosk computers You should avoid using public computers at hotels, airports, libraries, and "business centers" to access webmail accounts, because there is simply no way to tell if these computers are infected with malware or not.

Open Wi-Fi Wireless access points that don't require an encryption key to access don't protect your data as it transits through the air. This means that your username and password can be "sniffed" by anyone else using the access point as well. The only way to protect yourself is to be sure that the websites and e-mail servers you use employ SSL ("https:") for everything, not just logging in.

Man-in-the-middle attacks Those same open Wi-Fi access points can sniff your password using a variety of so-called man-in-the-middle attacks, in which your computer sends information to the wrong website, which, in turn, passes it to the correct one–so that the communication channel seems fine.

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Phishing scams Surprisingly, a fair number of users still fall for phishing scams, in which they voluntarily hand over their username and password to a malicious website. Typically users end up at these sites when clicking on a link they receive by e-mail.

Different website, same password Finally, many websites require that you set up an account with an e-mail address and a password in order to access their content. Don't use the same password that you use to access your e-mail–otherwise the website owners (and anyone who hacks that website) will be able to take over your other accounts, including your e-mail.

(Source: www.technologyreview.com)

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