The Internet has become a place where people from all walks of life can share their thoughts and opinions and even make bit of money on the side. That’s the good aspect of the massive popularity of the web. The downside is that there are also plenty of people who are looking to take advantage of others through viruses and malware. In the Internet age, there really isn’t a business or a blogger who is completely safe if they don’t go out of their way to protect themselves.
Phishing Scams
There are a number of different ways hackers can find a way into your computer and onto your website. Some are so common, people recognized them all at once. The email from a Nigerian prince isn’t really fooling anyone who is web savvy these days. The fact of the matter is those kinds of Phishing scams used to net quite a bit of fish.
The danger to bloggers can come from these kinds of emails, disguised as official communications from other companies or by someone posting the same kinds of links that used to be sent through emails as comments on the website. In this kind of attack, it makes sense that the attempt at finding a vulnerability seems to be a lot like the other kind of fishing. Hackers are just looking for someone to click a link out of curiosity.
Computer Viruses
Some viruses, such as the Gameover Zeus virus can infect a computer without anyone being the wiser. Then once it is on a computer, it injects rogue code into web browsing sessions. Then when people are also browsing to financial sites, the virus collect login information and other bits of data. Anyone who spends a great deal of time on the web, including bloggers are going to have a real problem if their computer is infected by something like Gameover Zeus.
Protecting Yourself and Your Visitors
While the web can seem chock full of dangers–and those who want to get at you and your blog–there are some pretty straightforward ways of keeping yourself safe. Making sure you are keeping abreast of the most recent threats and how to fight them off is easier than ever these days. Sites like antivirus.com and others can help you determine what kind of defenses and cures you need for specific threats.
You can also go with the more homegrown approach of simply limiting the number of contacts you and your blog have with unknown entities. If you feel as though your blog readers are getting exposed to malware or the like off of your blog, make sure your computer isn’t infected with penetration tests.
You can also make sure your firewall is up and working properly. These days, hackers are well aware of firewalls and the best of the best have all found ways around the rather uniform protection they provide, but even an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
If you’re running a blog that has a very active community, you’re going to want to make sure your comments section isn’t getting spammed with a ton of malware infected posts. Using a simple blog setup like WordPress will aid you in this regard since it has a function built in that tips you off to possible spammers.
These days, spammers aren’t simply an annoyance. You need to treat these people as an actual threat to your site and your visitors. Getting annoyed is just the tip of the iceberg when dealing with hackers looking for a way into your computer and your web browser.
