About Today: How the Swine Flu Can Make Your Computer Sick

Today In the Spotlight | More Topics |   from Jen Hubley All this chatter and concern about the swine flu has had an unexpected side effect: Some people, most of them perfectly healthy, are infecting their computer with deadly viruses. Not to worry: The flu hasn't evolved into the very first mammal-to-PC virus. It's just become another in a series of spooky news stories used by spammers to trick you into opening emails that can infect your computer with (non-swiney, computer) viruses.   In the Spotlight Swine Flu Spam and Phishing Attacks This is scary: Since the swine flu hit the news, phishers (presumably) have bought up domain names relating to swine flu, and will use the sites to host malware or launch spam or phishing attacks.              More Topics The Webby Awards: Vote for About.com! About.com Swine Flu in New York City Manhattan, NY 10 Great Fragrant Roses Gardening Best Names for Your Fantasy Baseball Team Baseball How to Use an ATM Safely Crime / Punishment Marlee Matlin on Being Deaf Deafness Make a Great Mother's Day Gift DIY Fashion Protect Yourself From Phishing Scams Skepticism, as always, is your best defense against the bad guys of the interwebs. Don't open emails and attachments from people you don't know. Trust your judgment: If it seems fishy, it's probably phishy.   Top Email and Internet Scams Here's one I've fallen for myself: The greeting card scam. You get an email, seemingly from a friend, open it up, click a link and unleash a whole load of nasties on your unsuspecting machine. Not very friendly after all!     Sponsored Links   Best Moves in a Bad Economy Save & Invest the Right Way Find out how to beat a bear market, make smart choices, and keep your cool even when the economy is unpredictable. Today Ads Email Virus Email Security Email Malware Email Protection Email Borne Threats Advertisement     Visit Related About GuideSites: Arts & Entertainment Automotive Careers Citysearch Cities & Towns Computing & Technology Education Food & Drink Health & Fitness History Hobbies & Games Homework Help House & Home Industry & Business Magazines Money News & Issues Parenting & Family People & Relationships Religion & Spirituality Shopping & Style Small Business Sports Teens Travel Search About      Sign up for more free newsletters on favorite topics. You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to the About Today newsletter as ignoble.experiment@ARCONATI.US. If you wish to change or remove your email address, please visit: http://www.about.com/nl/usgs.htm?nl=todaysl&e=ignoble.experiment@ARCONATI.US About respects your privacy. Our Privacy Policy. Our Contact Information. 249 West 17th Street New York, NY, 10011 © 2008 About, Inc.