The Best Anti-virus Software for Social Networking

Social networking sites represent a weak point in internet security. Recently, there has been a proliferation of viruses and other types of malware spreading through sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Anti-virus authorities say this threat is only going to grow with time as social networking sites become increasingly popular. The good news is that some anti-virus software manufacturers are including built-in functionality for social networking protection.

Why Do You Need Social Networking Anti-virus Protection?

The primary way viruses are transmitted via social networking sites is through corrupt shared links to phishing websites. While you may think that none of your friends would send you a bad link, consider how well you know that friend of a friend's cousin you met once several years ago. That person could potentially send you a corrupt link. Even if you have limited your friends list to family members and close personal friends, chances are that not every one of your friends has.

For instance, say your little sister (or anyone you're close with) could have more than 1,000 friends and an easily guessed password. A friend and hacker could break into her account and spam her entire contact list with viral links. You would then receive a shared link from your sister. Trusting that the link is safe because it's from your sister, you click it, open a phishing website and get a computer infection.

This type of scenario happens all the time. Recently, a very nasty Trojan called Hugpigon was unleashed. It is primarily spread through social networking sites. This infection gives full remote access of a computer to hackers, which allows them to hack your email accounts and record your keystrokes so they can gather your financial data when you buy something online or log in to your online banking account.

The Best Anti-virus Software for Social Networking

The best software to fight infections that spread through social networking sites is BitDefender. BitDefender also happens to be our highest-rated anti-virus software for many reasons, but it takes the cake for social networking protection since it has the most advanced and specific functionality for this purpose. BitDefender has a SafeGo mode that scans all the links that are shared on your profile. Independent tests show that BitDefender detects nearly 100 percent of corrupt links shared over social sites. BitDefender offers protection for any social site you're a subscriber to, from Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn.

BitDefender also has excellent protections against phishing websites, and this important for social sites in light of recent scams. Hackers have created phony Facebook login pages that look strikingly similar to the real site. Users then log in using the interface, but the fake site simply steals and stores the email and password you used to log in. The only way to tell that you're about to log in to a phony Facebook is to check the URL. Instead of Facebook.com, there will be a random number in place of the word Facebook. Many users log in quickly without thinking or checking the URL first; however, BitDefender will alert you to this scam right away before you have the chance to log in.

BitDefender also offers top-notch protection against all other types of online threats in addition to social networking, and the anti-virus software is affordably priced.

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