A V G L inkSc anner © 2 0 1 0 C opyright A V G T ec hnologies C Z, s .r.o. A ll rights res erved.
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1. Introduction
This user manual offers a general overview of the tasks and detection technologies
provided by
AVG LinkScanner®
. We will briefly talk about the program installation,
initial startup, configuration and use.
AVG LinkScanner®
is provided free-of-charge. It is up and running immediately from
the moment of installation. All basic settings have been pre-set by the manufacturer,
so most of the time you will not have to worry about anything – just let
AVG
LinkScanner®
work in the background and protect you without any effort on your
part. However, there might be situations where you need to adjust the program
settings, or decide what to do with a virus infected file; this manual is here to provide
detailed information and assist you with any task.
1.1. What is the AVG LinkScanner®?
In the last couple of years the number of malicious programs has increased
dramatically. New dangerous applications are being created every day. The majority of
today's viruses, that is spreading via Internet, is designed for financial/commercial
gain. Moreover, there are far more threats out there than plain viruses. You have
probably come across the term spyware as well, however, authors of malicious codes
and dangerous websites are very innovative, and new kinds of threats emerge quite
often. Here are some of the most common:
·
Exploit
is a malicious code that takes advantage of a flaw or vulnerability in an
operating system, Internet browser, or other essential program.
·
Social engineering
is a common term for various techniques used to trick people
into giving away their personal information (passwords, bank account details,
credit card numbers etc.). A typical example of social engineering is
phishing
an attempt to acquire sensitive personal data by shamming a trustworthy and
well-known organization. Usually, the potential victims are contacted by a bulk
e-mail asking them to e.g. update their bank account details. In order to do that,
they are invited to follow the link provided which then leads to a fake website of
the bank.
·
Scam
can be also considered a kind of social engineering; it includes false job
offers, or ones that will abuse the workers for illegal activities, summons to
withdraw a large sum of money, fraudulent lotteries and the like.
·
Hoax
is a bulk e-mail containing dangerous, alarming or just bothering and
useless information. Many of the above threats use hoax e-mail messages to
spread.
·
Malicious websites
are ones that deliberately install malicious software on your
computer, and hacked sites do just the same, only these are legitimate websites
that have been compromised into infecting visitors.
The
AVG LinkScanner®
is here to protect you from all these online threats.
