Celebrities, web volume, and staying safe

Late last week as news spread about the deaths of Michael Jackson and Farah Fawcett, the Web once again proved to be the go to source for information and breaking news. According to a story  in Yahoo! News, the story about Michael Jackson being rushed to the hospital on Yahoo.com (yahoo.com) received 800,000 clicks in 10 minutes! The Yahoo News section had 16.4 million visitors surpassing even the number for Election Day.

As people rush to the web to find out the latest events of the moment, at NCSA we once again warn people to use their best judgment when surfing.  Over at US CERT, the United States Computer Readiness Team run by the Department of Homeland Security, they are reporting an increase in phishing, spam, and malicious code related to the two deaths.

This just a reminder as you dig deeper into the web to learn about someone’s life story or take a stroll down memory lane looking for an image or video of your favorite performer from years past be sure to do so safely and securely. Start by making sure key software—security suite, web browser, and operating system—are  up to date to protect against attempts to load malicious software on your computer.  Use good judgment online to avoid scams and phishing attempts (trying to collect personal information such as log on, passwords, account numbers, home address, etc.).

Staying safe online is always a combination of tools and behavior.

SSO (stay safe online),

Michael