Protect Your Computer This Holiday Shopping Season

The holidays are upon us, which means most of us will be doing a lot of online shopping. You're likely to come across dubious sites while you shop, and if you have the proper software installed, you'll be warned if you come across any phishing sites or spyware. But what happens when your computer is left unprotected? There are so many web threats in the Web 2.0 era, that it's hard to tell if your computer is adequately protected against emerging threats.

Surprisingly, the latest web threat being reported doesn't come from dubious sites you accidentally visit, but from reputable sites that, according to PC Magazine are serving malware and redirecting users to sites that serve malware. It appears many of these trusted sites aren't taking the necessary precautions when screening their advertisers' banners, so they end up serving banner ads laced with malware that infect your computer even if you don't click on them.

PC World says "such parasite ads typically contain a Flash file that silently installs a Trojan horse or backdoor program on vulnerable Windows systems. Sometimes the company delivering the ads to a site is unaware that a bad-apple advertiser has embedded Trojan horses in them. By sheer bad luck you could visit a Web site that inadvertently hosts a Trojan horse ad, and risk infection." The bad news is these type of ads have shown up on sites like MySpace and Photobucket, two popular sites frequented by teenagers in households that often share a computer.

I've been checking out Zone Alarm's ForceField beta software for the past two weeks in order to give my computer another level of protection. It's currently offered as a free download until the end of the year, so I decided to give it a whirl. Downloading the software took me a few minutes, and it's been alerting me of possible threats ever since.

A Zone Alarm Forcefield toolbar has been sitting in my browser to give me peace of mind when I surf. Three buttons are readily available to show me the types of threats it has averted since installation, information about the web sites I visit, and a button that offers me a private browsing experience. In addition, the software is designed to detect any suspicious activity on any of the "trusted sites" I visit on a regular basis and flags them so that I can make an informed decision before proceeding. Forcefield gives you multiple layers of protection to keep you from entering sensitive information on phishing sites or from downloading keylogging software and other malware you may unknowingly stumble upon online.

What I found the most interesting was the "Private Browsing" feature, which allows you to surf the web privately. This could be especially useful when you're surfing the Web on a public computer and don't want to leave any sensitive information behind for hackers to collect. You could also do some of your Christmas shopping privately using the private browser, since your family won't be able to track any of the sites you visit. Having a private browser option could pose some concerns for parents, but the company says it's working on a way to give parents an overview of their kid's surfing habits in a legitimate fashion in the future.

I guess my biggest concern when shopping online is staying away from phishing sites. According to Forcefield's Protection Activity button, the software has blocked five phishing sites since installation, and has flashed a red warning every time to keep me from entering any sensitive information on that site. This level of protection is essential if you're sharing your computer with family members who many not understand how phishing sites work.

Hackers are always working on new web threats, so even if there is a new exploit to your browser or you come across a site that's serving malware, Forcefield is able to eliminate the threat so that it never makes it on to your operating system. Like I said, Forcefield is being offered as a free download for a limited time, so head on over to the site to try it out.

PCWorld has compiled a list of other ad-blocking software to help you out during the holidays, so check that out too. Try some of them, then come back to tell us which one worked the best for you.

Related:
How to Protect Your System Against Phishers
15 Downloads That Will Block Annoying Ads and Pop-Ups
The Top 10 Most Annoying, Frustrating, Irritating, and Sinister Online Ads