Be very cautious...
 

I just spent a small fortune having my computer fixed because I was hit by a virus. So, please be very cautious when going on to web-sites such as Pinterest etc. Some of the "pins" may be infected and when you click on to get a recipe or pattern, whatever, you end up infecting your computer. Also, don't think that because you have Norton you're safe. That's what I had and as it was explained to me, they can only protect against known viruses. So, be careful!

Good advice, but there is so much of it out there, you never know where it will come from. It is such a shame that all that knowledge and talent isn't used for something worthwhile.

They are everywhere! Used to have problems with my PC, now have a Mac and not once in 4 years so far, knock on wood. Will never go back to PC.

Thanks for the warning.

Because I use a Mac (safe so far) when I go to a possible virus site a message comes up that the website is unsafe. That all being said, hackers are now going so far as to write code to infect Macs so the future may not be so safe. Thanks for posting this thread

A son of a quilt buddy works for a computer repair shop. He said they Google how to remove what ever virus is on the computer and follow the directions. It's faster then using one of the virus programs. He said most of the viruses get on computers using out of date browsers. He recommends using Carbonite to save all your photos and files even if your computer hard drives blows up or gets stolen you still have them.

I use Mimedia AND Dropbox, they do the same thing (back up files) but I feel safer with two!! Both free, BTW.

One thing I learned, when you get something popping up that you don't know what it is (might say Security Alert or whatever) Do NOT click on the "X" to close it - that is how the bad stuff gets into your computer. Go to Task Manager (Ctrl + Alt + Del) and shut it down from there. Still hard for me to remember to do that.

Thanks for the tip - my virus scan runs every evening so hopefully it will be OK. I use Microsoft Essentials - a free virus scan. It comes highly recommended and is the only one that my DD school allows on their PC. She is a MAC girl now.

Same here. Never once did we get a virus on our MAC.

I've been there and learned a valuable lesson, use Carbonite to backup important files and use nothing but Webroot Secure Anywhere which has the anti virus, spyware and everything in one. The others like norton and Mcafee don't hold a candle to it. You can buy and download right on line or buy at most Walmart stores or best buy. I've done computer work for 20 years and it has never failed me. I've had people go against my recommendation only to come back at some point in the future to have me fix their computer and install Webroot. It will give you peace of mind with the Webroot and Carbonite combo.

Good luck!

same here!!! I'm cautious, but my computer gives me a warning about leaving to go to dangerous sites!... love my Mac!!

Thanx for a well placed reminder. We all need to be more cautious

oh munner, I am sorry about your virus. These things make you feel violated.

I, too, have a Mac. My friend convinced me to get MacKeeper to keep my Mac clean. It did catch a Trojan horse once, but otherwise it cleans the cache and keeps it running smooth. When I had a PC I had a lot of trouble with viruses, etc. The last straw was when I opened a file that I had for a long time, and there were big bugs crawling on the screen. That certainly was a dead give-away! Even with my Mac I don't open anything unless I know who it is from and even then, when it is a message from something like ebay, my bank, paypal, or even USPS (that is where the Trojan horse scam came from) I always go to the official site to see if anything is going on and send them a fraud message. We have to be soooooo careful these days!

I'm a computer systems administrator (among other things in the IT field) which means I handle servers and networks, and sometimes I have to spend a lot of time cleaning up malicious software off of desktop computers.

Nowadays, it's not enough to run just an anti-virus program.

Look at MalwareBytes Anti-malware. The free version is usually more than enough. Most of the garbage out there is more malware (scareware, ransomware, etc) than virus. An Antivirus product won't deal with malware in most cases.

As a general rule: Never pay anyone for something you didn't ask for. scareware and ransomware are what I'm talking about here. You suddenly end up with "something" on your computer, and it's saying there's something bad, and it will remove it if you pay them. Don't. Remove it, and use your AV program and Malware scanner to make sure that all traces are removed.

And please avoid Norton. Out of 20 computers that I remove real viruses from (not malware) easily 17 of them will have up to date Norton products on it. I think they spend significantly more on their marketing than they do on Research and Development.

Microsoft's Security Essentials is working really well for me and my clients. It's also free.

Macs are almost as vulnerable as PCs, if they're used incorrectly. At the end of the day, you can do the least damage to a machine, Mac or PC, by running as a limited or unprivileged user. More often than not, you'll find that Windows has set you up as an Administrator. This is unsafe. Some people will run as a privileged user on a Mac too.

I have been running avast free edition and it will block websites if it feels it is a malicious site,wouldnt' trade it for Mcafee or norton

Thanks for this tip! I had not heard of it. I do know that sometimes it is impossible to use the X to close it, they usually want you to click something else, then you install something else -- usually something you do not need or want!

I have Avast! and Malawares and they have saved me from many viruses and Trojan horses. You're right - there are a LOT on Pinterest! I get messages every time I look through abunch of Pinterest quilty pictures.

Thanks for the tip. It's good to hear from you, oh munner!

I had more problems with Mac than PC. 6 of one 1/2 dozen of the other.

Sorry for your problems. This is not the first time that we have heard Pinterest is not the safest.

It is not Pinterest, it is the sites that people are posting on Pinterest. One of them has pirated copies of cross stitch copyrighted material. I think people try to get these designs for free from Russian sites (ending in .ru) and Chinese sites and are infected at that time.

Thanks for the warning. I was on there yesterday trying to get a pattern but couldn't. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

I had that happen to me as well. Even though I have had a 40 year career in Telephony I fell for a scan call that claimed that my computer had some kind of virus that needed to be repaired and I gave them control of my computer. I did not click the box that gave them control "anytime" though and as soon as they led me to a website that looked just like the Intel website but did not have the logo I was sure I had been scammed and quickly unhooked my computer. shut it down and then back up and ran the scan. So even those of us that know better are capable of being scammed.

I NEVER browse without Sandboxie! It is a free program, and the way it works is that if you go to a site (like pinterest) and click on something...a malware may jump on your computer, but it is contained within the "sandbox". Then you just delete the sandbox and poof...the malware is gone. It never had a chance to do-its-thing... I feel a lot safer using it against those drive-by viruses.

Hope this helps someone.

Levada

This is an excellent point. I use it myself. The only reason I don't always recommend it in a forum post is that it doesn't always work right out of the box. I will give Sandboxie this, their help on their site is excellent.

Thanks for the info....

I don't read e-mail or do facebook or pinterest on my PC any more. I only use my iPad. Hackers have not figured out Apple's system yet. I hope they never do. Too bad they don't put their brains to good use.

I would be extremely careful with that belief...

2008 - http://www.itworld.com/mac-hacked-fi...contest-080327
2009 - http://www.tomshardware.com/news/hac...pard,8704.html
2009 - http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...wser-economics - "Macs are easy to hack, but not really worth the effort"
2010 - http://www.pcworld.com/article/18976...safer_mac.html
2011 - http://www.dailytech.com/Apples+OS+X...ticle21097.htm

That's just on the first page of google. The Mac's are invulnerable is all marketing. I've been in the Industry for 16 years. It's not true.

That's so sad especially when all seems so innocent.

Norton-does have a protection plan-it protects from all known and unknown-someone needs to check with them-I have never gotten a virus, you have to empty SPAM and junk mail everyday