A Bug's Life at WA

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1.3K followers
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I've been noticing several people getting all worked up over trojans and viruses and other such things out here on WA as though the system is bugged or has caused problems with other computers when people visit their sites. Bugs don't have a very long life span here...in fact, they shouldn't have one at all.

It is very RARE if not IMPOSSIBLE to receive a virus from a managed WP server site. (ie. Wealthy Affiliate is such a system) If you have friends telling you that they visited your site and got a virus, it's most likely your friends system identified a file that was being accessed on their computer that was already contaminated.

That's not to say that WA isn't subject to complications...all systems are, however, I would suspect if such a problem ever arose here at WA, there would be a global warning to all its members.

Just as an FYI to those that may not be all that tech savvy or just inexperienced with website building...or even being on the internet in general...

Most malware these days is disguised as a ploy like the "You have a Virus!" pop-up that resides in hover links (fire off when your mouse scans certain areas of a page). These are most often found within bogus websites or through links in junk emails that take you to bogus websites.

So here's a few tips:

NEVER open a "masked" link anywhere on the web (ie. http://www.tiny.url/20938yu3) unless you know how it got that way.

If you just clicked on the link I told you not to click on, then you need to rethink your habits! :)

NEVER open links in emails unless they are from somebody or a company you trust and you can distinguish the name of the site from within the link or email header (ie. I've received bogus emails that LOOK like they came from Craig'sList or PayPal or Ebay, but the web address in the "received from" always gives them away)

NEVER click on those pop-ups that try to tell you that Windows has identified a VIRUS! Especially when it's in a browser window or pop-up. (Windows gives identifications ONLY on the task bar!)

NEVER run an "anti-virus" software tool that has been forced into your face online in any shape or form.

They are ALL SCAMS to get you to click and THEN you have in most cases INSTANTLY installed malware into your system, some of which can be difficult to recover from.

Apple users don't have the same concerns that Windows users have when it comes to malware and viruses, the systems run much differently. So for all the Windows users out there, here is at least one respectable tool that SHOULD be in your arsenal

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/malicious... <-This one's safe, trust me.

Note the link above is from www.microsoft.com and not a bogus copy-cat sites like these: www.microsoft-ware.com or www.mi.crosoft.com - be wary of the location, location, location... and yes that link above to the malicious software removal tool really IS safe!
But if you don't know me well enough to trust me....you should know not to click on it! :)

Just google "Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool" if you don't trust me just yet! lol

Hope that helps ease the minds of some of the folks out there tonight!

Cheers!







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Recent Comments

14

Good advice. Some people will click on anything especially kids.

Great info, thanks

Good advice. Don't be like my sixth graders who click on anything and think later.

One thing to consider when you kids have access to the machine you do business on is to create another user from the control panel and add a password to your own, so they are not logging into your desktop. It's not fail safe, but it does restrict any access to personal files that could get destroyed should they click on a malicious link.

They don't use my computer, but thanks for the caution.

Thank you Leland I bookmarked this to check it out latter.
Barry

I often wonder how to tell if the link is bogus or not; now that I am WA member I am finding it harder since I don't know if something is from WA or bogus like that Steven2015; so thanks for a little more info.

If it comes from a reputable source (ie. http://ebay.com, etc.) their main domain is usually the first part of the URL string. If it looks fishy it probably is.

WA affiliate links can be "masked" by users by purchasing a domain name and "forwarding" (ie. http://wa.lelandbest.com could redirect to a WA affiliate link via my personal domain) There is a practice by seasoned affiliates that involves using "URL shorteners" such as TinyURL or BitLy and even goo.gl (try to google "How to shorten a URL")

The problem with short URL's is that many people are catching on and have become wary of clicking on them, just as I recommended. But they still exist everywhere, because there are times when they serve a purpose.

Taken from Google's help page on the subject:
"You can shorten URLs to make them easier to share using the Google URL shortener. For example, the short URL http://goo.gl/l6MS takes people to http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/making-urls-shorter-for-google-toolbar.html"

I prefer to just set up a subdomain under my own purchased domain names, that way once I add the affiliate link, it's much easier for me to remember!

Thanks for the heads up this may save a lot cheers Helen

Thank you for the information Leland.

good stuff!

Vital information which should be taken seriously - Thanks for that

This is some great content - a big help to all of us. Thank you

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