The fight against malware has just gotten more sophisticated.

Although these schemes are not new, incidents regarding spyware and virus attacks using fake Web sites or security alerts are alarmingly increasing. Many users are falling for it since they look authentic. Indeed, even the most experienced and cautious PC user or surfer won’t be able to recognize that the page or file is a fake unless they take a closer second look.

Mirroring

It’s ironic that the infected Web site or security alert replicates that of antivirus and anti-malware’s. This is the reason why many have fallen prey to this modus operandi. Users usually don’t doubt messages regarding security updates. Many immediately download the suggested files or patches without even verifying if the source is genuine. To make matters worse, security suites will sometimes let the download pass without checking its authenticity since the process was initiated or had the approval of the user.

Be Proactive

Although this may seem too tedious, the best way to ensure if the updates or security alert that you have received is genuine is by looking at the URL of the page that you’re being led to after clicking the link presented in the notice. If the address seems unfamiliar or doesn’t direct you to the manufacturer’s Web site, chances are is that the notice is spurious and that you’re being led to an infected page. Always check the URL if it seems genuine. It may be a very simple way of checking file or page authenticity, but it’s definitely effective.

Simply Effective

Don’t think that the techniques which malware authors use to enable their virus or malicious file to get into your system are that sophisticated. Sometimes, if not most of the time, the methods that they use are either crude or pre-historic. As people expect attacks to be complicated and well planned, they leave everything to their antivirus and anti-spyware software. This hands-off approach is dangerous. Anti-malware software often rely on the user for inputs and other decision-making tasks. Consequently, when the user allows the downloading of a purported update which is actually a malicious file, the security program would treat such file or page as harmless. Of course, if such file would perform processes that clearly intend to wreak havoc in the system, your security tool would definitely put a stop to it.

Basic Necessity

No computer in any part of the globe could survive without antivirus software or registry cleaners. Sure, you may contend that standalone PCs or those which have no Internet connection or disk drives are some of the exceptions. But they are precisely just that – exceptions. One could hardly define a computer without mentioning that it has or should have the ability to connect to the Internet. It’s not too presumptuous or erroneous to say that the essence of a computer is to be able to process data and share the same to other people regardless of where they may be. Indeed, what’s the use of your PC if it can’t take you around the world.

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Would an entry about Apple’s latest mobile phone be out of place in this blog?

Everybody knows that most, if not all, of my ranting on this page are about computers. Even the cartoons that are occasionally posted here deal with the everyday goofs and frustrations that one might have had or is continuously having with his PC. So why feature something that has a different feather?

Not Just the Birds

Every electronic gadget wants to mirror the functions of a PC. As almost every human activity is assisted or dictated by Information Technology, it’s only natural for consumers to choose devices that would save them from being tied to their computer. Thus, mobile phones of today are not only made for placing and receiving calls. In fact, those two functions seem to be last things that cellular phone makers have in mind whenever they are revising or coming up with new designs.

An excellent example would be the iPhone. The only thing that makes it primarily a mobile phone instead of a miniature PC is its name. Nomenclature aside, one might need a few guesses before he realizes that it’s a cell phone. While Apple is billing it as such, 85% of its manual deals with its computer-like features. Nothing much has been documented about its call functions.

Consumer Demand

The evolution of the mobile phone to a mini PC is the result of the growing demand to be always connected to the Internet. While many saw laptops as the solution or answer for such desire, its bulky architecture has turned off a sizeable number of users who wants their e-mails to be accessible at just a touch of a button. You can’t do that even with an 11-inch notebook. The boot up process just takes too much time. On the other hand, handheld devices, such as smart phones and PDAs, can conveniently connect the user to the Internet in just a few seconds without impeding mobility.

It’s Still What It Is

Despite the fact that many of the mobile phones in the market today pack PC-like functions, its limitations as a miniature computer makes its bid to be an alternative computing device quite ambitious. iPhone’s graphics may be stunning, but it certainly cannot process heavy multimedia tasks that requires extensive video power. Its size also prevents it from using today’s latest processors which are needed in various computing activities. If you’ll analyze it closely, what you actually have is a mobile phone-cum-Web browser. It’s quite erroneous to claim that it’s a computer in the strictest sense of the word.

Foreboding

While I may not agree with the N95’s slogan: “It’s what computers have become,” I do agree that the mobile phones of today will shape the ultimate form of the PC in the next 10 years. Time will come when you’ll be buying anti-spyware programs or registry cleaners not just for your desktop, but for your mobile phone as well. It’s what computers will become.

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