Avoid harmful, dangerous and scary pop-ups
While there may cause some pop-ups which are useful and important, most of them can be irritating advertisements, adware – or some could even be traps to lure or mislead novice computer users into revealing their email IDs or sensitive personal or financial information. They could even be Scareware pop-ups wanting to make you pay for fake anti-virus software, Drive-by download pop-ups, or pop-ups which install malware when you close them. Even with secure browsers with essential security features, some pop-up or pop-unders do manage to slip by and get displayed on your computer screen. Most users simply close the pop-up box and continue with their work. However, “closing” the pop-up box, may just be an invitation to download some unknown variant of malware! Yes, this is possible! Let us consider a simple example that will help us put my point across. Banking sites use pop-ups for special purposes like login screens and providing warnings. So, they invariably use it for genuine purposes. Others can use the same with the intent of injecting malicious programs like rootkits, keyloggers, etc. onto your computer. They may even use or employ original graphics and logos to make them look genuine. The good part is that a little bit of caution can help you in the long run. Some steps when followed religiously will help in ensuring your safety while browsing the Web. Here are a few suggestions that can stop, prevent and avoid harmful, dangerous or scary pop-ups. Stay safe!
