Are you using Google Chrome?

The following is part of an email that I recieved today from a trusted colleague. I purposely haven't copied it all to this page because some of the information in the full email could help hackers. If you use Google Chrome and want the full email write to me from the POE contact facility and I will send it to you.

The email that was copied to me from my colleague started...

Dear Andy, (my colleague)

I use Safari with Firefox as my back up. I installed Chrome some months ago and after a few weeks I noticed my fans were going bonkers. When I checked my activity monitor to see what was eating into my CPU I found a program called 'Google Chrome Helper' obviously it installed with the Chrome browser, no idea what it's purpose was. It was taking a huge percentage of my CPU so I dumped Chrome and everything that came with it in the bin and I have no intention of using it ever again. 

'Opera' is another browser which is quite a nice alternative to the major ones.

I have just deleted all passwords in Chrome printed the existing ones and unchecked the box regarding saved passwords.

I have used Chrome for some years now (without any problems) because it is far faster to load than Internet Explorer. As for security issues, I never allow a browser to remember passwords or to autocomplete anything. Also disable any unnecessary tool bar add-ons. 

It is also essential to have good Anti-Virus software installed, and never click on links in e-mails. 

I received yet another email from the same source today explaining that it's not only Chrome that is affected. Firefox is another, but again part of the email that makes most sense is copied here for your information. It reads...

The hackers use compromised websites to display a warning telling you that your version of Firefox is out of date (regardless of what version you are actually using) and prompting you to download an updated version.

If you do so, you end up with the malware infected version of Firefox on your system.

The solution is to only ever download Firefox from legitimate locations. The best place is the main Mozilla website:

www.mozilla.org/en-US/

The real version of Firefox will never come packed with malware infections and is quite safe. And, if you have Firefox installed on your system already, it will be configured to automatically update itself when a new version becomes available, so you don't need to download updated versions.

John if you forget passwords this might be for you, I know of a few people who use it.

https://agilebits.com/onepassword

I'm quite good with passwords so I don't have it installed but some people swear by it. It costs but I suppose a one off payment for peace of mind is better than someone getting into your personal stuff.