How to beat 22 Web security threats

The internet can be an intimidating place, seemingly infested with rogue sites trying to lure you in and bleed your bank account dry. Even if you're savvy enough not to click on links in unsolicited emails - or even ones that don't read quite right - it's easy to be caught out.

Phishing attacks grow ever more sophisticated, spoof sites exactly replicate the real thing and criminals think up new scams every week.

There's also been a surge in dodgy free add-ons for web-based tools. Secret Crush, an app for Facebook, is one example we outline here; a quick search on the site as we went to press found 28 apps with the same name. Little wonder scammers are able to bamboozle us.

In fact, social engineering is now one of the biggest dangers for web users. Internet security suites can block many threats, but devils disguised as people you know can catch out the most stringent scambuster.

Trusted sites may be spoofed to get you to download malicious software, while drive-by installers attempt to load your PC with ransomware. We're sure MBS won't be the last to try that trick.

So, while you may think you know the ropes when it comes to protecting your PC, it's certainly not as simple as patching your browser, turning on your firewall and keeping your antivirus definitions up to date.

In the following pages we look at the very latest threats to your online and offline life and, most importantly, how to stay safe.

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