A new scam that’s popping up online is where hackers send e-mails containing an attachment of a screen saver. A security hole in Microsoft Windows allows these screen savers to install malicious software on your machine. Once this software is installed all keystrokes and online activity will be recorded and forwarded off to unscrupulous individuals who will take over your email or facebook account and even your credit card.

While antivirus programs do keep put a halt to some of these trojans they can only stop the ones that have already been detected. Hackers are constantly innovating and working on new ways to get around antivirus software. Depending on the skills of the hackers they could even access and download all the files on your computer.

Along with keeping your antivirus up to date, common sense also needs to be employed in order to protect yourself from these attacks. Next time you see something that looks good, or looks in some way odd think for a couple of seconds before you click that link. It could save you a lot of hassle in the long run.