 Avast is the subject of a complaint by the Federal Trade Commission for selling the sensitive data of its antivirus customers. Ironically, while Avast's antivirus claim to protect customers from intrusive advertising, in reality Avast-owned Jumpshot was taking data from Avast customers and selling it for advertising purposes. While Avast claimed that the data they sold was anonymous (unable to be linked to individuals), closer examination by the FTC showed that the data could be linked to individual devices and the people who owned them.
Since the unsavory revelations came to light, Avast has been bought out by Gen Digital, who owns security companies such as Norton, LifeLock, Avira, AVG, and CCleaner, among others. While Avast has been ordered to stop selling consumer data, we recommend staying away from them and all of the above-named companies, and doing business with a more ethical antivirus organization. Our top pick is Malwarebytes, which has a long record of consumer advocacy including blocking advertising that other antivirus apps let through. Click here to read details about the FTC's crackdown on Avast.  These days even a brand-new Windows computer comes baked in with abundant advertising. Fortunately, there are ways to turn off much of this unsavory stuff. Click here to learn more.
We are always happy to take care of these tasks any time we perform a tuneup, whether over the phone using screen sharing, or in-person at your home.  Google is the most popular search engine in the world, but that doesn't make it safe. In fact, Google makes most of its money off of "sponsored" advertising placements, and that's where the unsafe corruption of search results can occur.
Anytime you search for a popular term on Google, you may see "sponsored" search results listed at the top. Companies pay for these results, and can insert virus-laden links. As a general practice, it's best to completely avoid "sponsored" search results and click on the genuine search results, which are listed below the sponsored results. You can learn about an example of malicious Google ad behavior at the following blog post from the excellent Krebs on Security: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2024/01/using-google-search-to-find-software-can-be-risky/ Would you like to completely block risky Google advertising links and other web ads? We can help! We install high-quality Eero brand Wi-Fi routers that can include a subscription service called Eero Plus, which blocks advertising and questionable links from your Wi-Fi network.  Winter is a great time to perform maintenance on your computer, as computer operating system updates are typically at their top stability in the months following the December holidays (Tech engineers may not be working on a consistent cadence in the Summer, and Fall is usually the time for releasing new updates that need time to get glitches worked out).
For Windows computers, the latest version of Windows 11, version 23H2, was released in late 2023, and is now considered stable and available for most Windows 11 compatible computers. For Macs, Apple released their latest system, MacOS Sonoma, in the Fall, and having seen a few minor updates since, it is ready for folks to install. Most Macs released in 2018 or newer are compatible with Sonoma. Best practices for updating include making a backup of your data first, and for Windows computer checking for BIOS updates from your computer's manufacturer before making the plunge. We can help you take care of this all over the phone over the course of a 30-60 minute tech support session. |
AuthorJensen Gelfond is the Founder of Asheville Digital Lifestyle. He helps people use their technology more effectively and joyfully. Categories
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