I thought given the amount of viruses going around, the number one way to receive a virus IMO is receiving a web link via your email.  Even though you might know the sender of the message, blindly clicking on the link is a little like opening your door when the doorbell rings without looking outside first.

Gone are the days when viruses are embedded in your emails (ok, not completely gone, but they found a way around it).  Instead, they send you an email with a link that takes you to a website.  Either the website is riddled with viruses or it’s a phishing scam, meant to appear like a financial institution to steal your password.  How do we counteract this?  Most of the time, viruses come through with masked wording over the link.  By simply placing your cursor over the link (do not click on it), you should be able to read the actual link versus the one that is showing up.  In some email programs it will display in a pop up tab. In others, like a browser, it should show up in the bottom of the screen. Below I have two links as examples. The first example will take you to Google results from a BNI search. The second example on the surface looks like it would take you to the same place, but it really is a bogus address that will take you nowhere.

This is a correct link taking you to the correct site:

http://www.google.com/ – hl=en&q=BNI&aq=f&aqi=g10&fp=8ec80112f99bfde5

Notice when you hold your mouse over the link, it displays exactly what you see written.

Now what most viruses/phishers do:

http://www.google.com/ – hl=en&q=BNI&aq=f&aqi=g10&fp=8ec80112f99bfde5

Notice when you hold your mouse over the link, it is different then what is shown here. What to look for is the beginning, if they are trying to trick you into going to mock site of youtube or your bank, the beginning part of the URL will have to be different.  So instead of www.youtube.com, usually it will be like youtube.alk.com.Very similar but not the same.

Now unfortunately, thanks to the benefit of the wonderful “tinyURL” or similar services, you might not have this option. TinyURLs is a way of shortening these long web addresses down so it’s easier for people to receive and click on the link. Holding your mouse over them will not help in any fashion. However, please read through the email carefully. If all the person did was send you this link, even if they filled out the subject, my advice is don’t click on it. If the wording in the email is very generic like “Check this out” or “I thought of you” that’s still too easy for someone to spoof on their own.

On the flip side, if you are sending a link to a friend or colleague, please give sort of personal information so it’s obvious this came from you and was meant for them. As stated above, the generic, “This reminded me of you…” just won’t cut it anymore. For lack of anything else to say, you are free to use “Honadle.com: Don’t alter your business to fit your computers, alter your computers to fit your business.”