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Microsoft: One In 14 Downloads Is Malicious
alphadogg writes "About one out of every 14 programs downloaded by Windows users
turns out to be malicious, Microsoft said Tuesday. And even though Microsoft has a feature in its Internet Explorer browser designed to steer users away from unknown and potentially untrustworthy software, about 5% of users ignore the warnings and download malicious Trojan horse programs anyway. IE also warns users when they're being tricked into visiting malicious websites, another way that social-engineering hackers can infect computer users. In the past two years, IE's SmartScreen has blocked more than 1.5 billion Web and download attacks, according to Jeb Haber, program manager lead for SmartScreen."
My boss would be a perfect example of these kinds of people. Yesterday, I trekked into his office once again to clean the latest malware off of his laptop. It was one of the Google search hijack trojans that lands every search link on a shady advertisement page. First, tried rebooting into safe mode and running malwarebytes. That didn't do shit. Then, I tried combofix and ssdfix. That didn't work either. Finally, I said, "Hey, boss, you know that shiny iPad you just paid 600 bucks for? Why don't you just use that and problem solved." All he does is read and respond to emails and browse around on the net anyway. Get him a bluetooth keyboard for his tablet and he's off and running. I told him that if he finds he can't do without a desktop, we'll make a trip to the Apple Store at the St. John's Towne Centre. "They'll fix you right up."