I'm thinking about writing an entry about some of the User Interface modifcations (UI mods) I've downloaded for World of Warcraft, but figure I should start with this entry first so I can refer back to it. General computer security is an important thing to consider before downloading anything online or even entering information into a web form!
Spyware and Key logging "trojan" programs on your computer are a serious security threat when it comes to the privacy of your personal information online.
A few rules to help you keep clean of these trojans:
Use a different browser than Internet Explorer wherever possible. Some sites won't work without IE, but many of the spyware that comes from websites was developed specifically to exploit Internet Explorer weaknesses. Considering over 80% of all web traffic is done through IE, it's a good investment for them. I recommend Firefox, as it's also a pretty zippy browser for complex pages. It's fast and it comes with certain securities built in that IE lacks upon install. See the link at the top right of this page to download Firefox for free.
If you play games like RuneScape that don't need a software purchase and a local installation to run, don't download "hacks" or programs that are meant to enhance your experience. If it's an official program, suggest the author submit their software to Tucows or some other large well-known repository, and download it from there later. You could be installing a key logger or the program could straight out ask you for your password and then pass it on to the maker of the software!
Any web link you get from an email that brings you to a page where you're supposed to enter sensitive information like your credit card, bank info or passwords, don't do it! Banks and other service providers would NEVER contact you that way.
Download Lavasoft's Ad Aware SE - the free version if you're using your home computer. Then, make sure all aspects of it are updated (when you first download it, there may still be updates you need to download immediately after installation) and then let it scan your drives. This may take a while if you, like me, have large drives. It's worth the wait but you might want to let it scan overnight if you've never scanned before.Remove *ALL* of the things that Ad Aware SE finds. You may have to right-click the list and choose "select all" before proceeding if you have a long list. I had a friend with over 700 items in this list the first time we cleaned his computer up.
Download Spyware Search %26#038; Destroy (these can both be found in Tucows directory) and do the same things as in step #2. I find that these two programs work nicely together to keep my drive clean, with my doing weekly scans.
And as is standard these days, get a virus scanner that runs on your machine all the time it's on, and make sure the virus scanner keeps up to date. I personally use Norton with its LiveUpdate feature, but you may prefer something else, or your computer may prefer something else ;) I've had virus programs severely slow down my machine's performance and even crash it, while on other machines that virus program works just fine. Do what works, and what doesn't cause you headaches.
Keep your computer clean. It's an important step in protecting your personal, private information from those of unscrupulous internet users!