Well, don’t get surprised by the heading of the post. Yes, it’s quite a big possibility that you may be helping spammers in spreading the spam and that too unknowingly. There are various malicious software called bots and once they get installed on your computer, they make your computer participate in botnets.
What are botnets ?
Botnets is a network of various infected machines and the target of these botnets is to create nuisance in various ways. They use your computer to send spam, bombard servers from various DoS attacks, infect other computers, to serve porn or other stuff and make your computer act as a web server (anything illegal can be served from your computer and you can be held liable for all that activity!)
How can be I safe from all this crap!
In order to be safe from these botnets, you can take the following precautions :
1. Keep your computer up to date by running the windows update or any other system update in case you are running any other OS.
2. Keep the anti-virus, anti-spyware software updated.
3. Run free RU-Botted program from TrendMicro.
4. Never open any email which looks suspicious and yes, don’t forget to scan any attachment.
5. Scan all the external storage media devices like CDs, DVDs or pen drives.
Well, by taking all these small steps you can help not only yourself but many more. Happy Safe Computing!
Other Important Articles
- More than 50% PCs are infected from malware even with Anti-Virus installed!
- How to make computer fast – Simple Guide!
- SpyEraser : Remove those spyware completely!
- ProcessScanner – Learn and secure your computer!
- Inspect softwares on your computer for security updates!
Christina
July 25th, 2008 at 5:25 pm #
Hi there, Good job with your blogging!! With more blogs like this, we can create more awareness about spam and eventually help ourselves from getting spammed.