Wireless computing devices are not subject to viruses

Firewalls prevent your computer from responding to these random calls. A firewall blocks communications to and from sources you don't permit. This is especially important if you have a high-speed internet connection, like DSL or cable. Some operating systems have built-in firewalls that may be shipped in the "off" mode. Be sure to turn your firewall on. To be effective, your firewall must be set up properly and updated regularly. Check your online "Help" feature for specific instructions.

Making use of complex passwords and strong methods of authentication can help keep your personal information secure.

Protect your devices and accounts from intruders by choosing passwords that are hard to guess. Use strong passwords with at least eight characters, a combination of letters, numbers and special characters. Don't use a word that can easily be found in a dictionary or any reference to personal information, such as a birthday.

Some hackers use programs that can try every word in the dictionary, and can easily find personal information such as dates of birth. Try using a phrase to help you remember your password, using the first letter of each word in the phrase.

For example, HmWc w2—How much wood could a woodchuck chuck. Choose unique passwords for each online account you use: financial institution, social media, or email. If you have too many passwords to remember, consider using password manager software, which can help you create strong individual passwords and keep them secure. Many social media, email, and financial accounts allow the use of stronger authentication methods. These methods can include using a fingerprint, one-time codes sent to a mobile device, or other features that ensure a user is supposed to have access to the account.

While checking email, visiting websites, posting to social media, or shopping, pay attention to where you click and who you give your information to. Unscrupulous websites or data thieves can attempt to trick you into giving them your personal data.

Phishing attacks—where hackers send seemingly genuine messages to trick you to hand over personal information—are becoming more sophisticated. For instance, you may receive an urgent message stating that your bank account has been locked and requiring you to enter your password and Social Security number to unlock it. Think twice before clicking on links in messages such as this.

Most genuine messages from financial institutions will not ask for personal information directly, but will instead instruct you to call or visit a website directly. You can also verify the email address that sent the message to ensure it came from the expected sender. When shopping online, check out the website before entering your credit card number or other personal information.

Read the privacy policy and look for opportunities to opt out of information sharing. If there is no privacy policy posted, beware! Shop elsewhere. Learn how to tell when a website is secure. Look for "https" in the address bar or an unbroken padlock icon at the bottom of the browser window.

These are signs that your information will be encrypted or scrambled, protecting it from hackers as it moves across the internet. Social media allows sharing of all aspects of life, but it's important to control who has access to the information you share.

Information thieves can use social media postings to gather information and then use the information to hack into other accounts or for identity theft. To protect yourself, make use of privacy settings to limit the visibility of personal posts to your personal networks, and restrict the amount of information you share with the general public. Nowadays, malicious software lurking in spam and on Web pages is kept at bay only through effort and expense.

Several factors hold back what may someday become serious effort on the part of cyber attackers to infect mobile devices with malware designed to raid apps and commandeer sensitive data. Smartphones and tablets are also, for the most part, better designed than PCs to minimize the potential damage caused by viruses and other problematic programs.

Of the more than million smartphones in use in the U. It is possible, nevertheless, for attackers to break into mobile devices, including the iPhone and those running Android. A rational attacker whose goal is to make money is not going to choose that path.

Once installed, the program enabled an attacker to hijack and steal data stored on an infected iPhone. Once the attacker took control of the infected smartphone he or she could access saved passwords and any cookies the browser used for accessing different Web sites. Miller helped develop another method of attack in that blitzed iPhone or Android-based devices with a deluge of SMS short message service text messages, allowing an intruder to plant a virus on the phone or at the very least cause the phone to shut down disconnecting calls and Web access in the process.

Dollars and sense Malice and mayhem aside, cyber criminals usually want to make money from their efforts. Mobile malware is newer, so authoring such an attack could come with a learning curve and less certainty for success, adds Miller, who spent five years with the National Security Agency as a global network exploitation analyst. Given the popularity of these mobile devices, however, this equation will inevitably shift and place them at greater risk.

Worldwide smartphone sales are expected to reach 1. We delete comments that violate our policy , which we encourage you to read.

Discussion threads can be closed at any time at our discretion. Uh-oh, this computer virus can spread via Wi-Fi Researchers at England's University of Liverpool have created Chameleon, a virus that can proliferate via Wi-Fi as efficiently as the common cold infects humans.

Michelle Starr. University of Liverpool British researchers have created a computer virus that they say is the first to spread like a real airborne contagion.