[[I was getting killed with viruses on my PC despite using virus and malware security software.]]
Me too- just doing simple searches for say ‘cantaloupes’ or ‘ford cars’ or whatever- you’d go to what looked like a legit link and bam- was getting redirected to sites infected with viruses that automatically downloaded before you coudl get out of the site- It got so bad at one point- I decided to make the switch to linux- got sick of dealing with the constant defensive tactics needed to prevent viruses on windows- Talk about having to maintain a system constantly- That was a royal pain- I’ve had linux now for a couple of years- and havent’ had to worry abotu viruses-
[[I shop on line a lot. Could that do it?]]
Depends on where you shop- I try to only shop at known major sites like Amazon, Walmart, Cabellas, Sears, etc- all reputable major companies that you know have adequate security for their sites- (almost always anyways) If you shop at obscure, unknown small sites- then yeah- they can be dangerous
another tip- if you need something off a smaller unknown website store- spend a little extra money and get a gift card for around the same amount, and use it instead of your regular credit card- The less you use your regular card, the safer your info will be- especially when it comes to unknown sites-
I secretly (well actually it was an accident) switched a completely nontechnical user from Windows to Linux. He figured out how do email and browse the web, but complained about not having office and some Windows menu options. In short he didn’t realize it was unix or even know. But I fixed the default for dual booting to boot to Windows and he is more comfortable again (although also more vulnerable).