AVAST warns students to protect their computers

As students prepare to return to school across the globe, AVAST Software, providers of the AVAST Antivirus program, features infected education-related websites in its third monthly “America’s Most Wanted” list. AVAST points out that downloading antivirus and anti-spyware software can go a long way to protect the investments made in new computers for the coming school year.

As the new school year begins for students, many will find themselves scouring the web to keep updated on the latest trends in school fashion, supplies, learning tools and more.
Following is a sampling of the most infected education-related websites:

• educationalinfo.com
• edwebdirect.com
• greenfieldspublicschool.com
• kingfahdschool.com
• knowledge-source.com
• learnonline.mihanblog.com
• school-backpack.com
• schooldna.com
• tutorialshot.com

”With the new school year, many students will acquire new computers and getting a certified antivirus and anti-spyware software is a key step in protecting this investment,” said Ondrej Vlcek, Chief Technical Officer at AVAST Software. “It is fact of life that education is not immune from the danger of malicious and hijacked websites. The real lesson to be learned is that all computer users need to be protected from malware and viruses.”

Vlcek also cautions parents and students buying systems to be wary of time-limited free antivirus software pre-installed on new computer and laptops. “Many of these will pop up with a message requesting you to spend $40 to $60 to keep your machine protected,” he comments. “Protection is an essential, but it does not have to be expensive. Testing organizations such as Virus Bulletin have demonstrated that avast! Free Antivirus is more effective than some of these pre-installed paid products on your new computer.”

AVAST Software receives non-stop information about infected sites thanks to its CommunityIQ global network of sensors. This data, taken from the actual web browsing experiences of an opt-in group, is then used to protect all AVAST users by blocking their access to infected sites. This flow of information responds quickly to seasonal threats, as well as those around real-time events.

To help keep users – students included – protected against most infected websites, AVAST offers the following tips to ensure computers remain virus-free:

• Install a certified AV software (see VB100 for example)
• Make sure that updates for your computer OS, antivirus program and other applications are in automatic mode
• Get original software. Downloaded Warez may come with malware attached and unpatched Windows systems are especially vulnerable to attack
• Be careful what websites you enter your personal information in
• Passwords should have at least 7 characters and include a mix of capitalization, numbers, and symbols