I’m certain everyone here already knows this, but I’ll comment about avoiding malware on the Internet anyway. Reminders are never a bad thing.
First a bit of background. When I was little, my mother taught me not to trust strangers because I could not know what their intentions were. That was long before ‘Stranger-Danger’ was a catch phrase, but it was good advice then, and it still is today (and I’m in my 70s). Today, I call that attitude being skeptical (not distrustful).
We should all remember that everything we see, read, or listen to on the Internet is produced by people we do not know, and that we cannot know what their intentions are, so we should take everything with a grain of salt and verify it by finding other sources to evaluate its truth/accuracy, especially when the presented point of view closely matches our own.
Never blindly click any link we find on the Internet, either on a website, or in an email message, or especially in a text message (on a phone). Before clicking, hover the mouse pointer over the link, then compare the URL it will take you to with the link’s label. Example: if the link label reads BestBuy, but the URL (in the pop-up/status line does not start with ‘https://bestbuy.com/’, the link is a trick! DON’T CLICK.
If I receive an email that purports to come from a friend or associate, I check with the purported sender before opening it to ensure that they sent it, and that I can trust what it contains. If they did not send it or it comes from an unknown source, I delete it. This step is much easier for me that it is for most people because I’m retired, so I don’t get business or urgent work-related messages, and I am not too concerned with missing out on whatever it contains because the content is very likely not good for me.
For the most part, this is what I describe as Cognitive Security Awareness. The bottom line is Think before you click or go. You’ll never regret taking a moment before clicking, but you may if you don’t.
My2Cents,
Ernie