It’s time for a reminder to be careful when you click on links that people share. Recently Naive_One came to #help because he had clicked on a link A_Bad_Guy shared (names changed to protect the innocent). A_Bad_Guy used his server logs to get Naive_One’s IP address and attack his network. Unfortunately for Naive_One, there was nothing GeekShed staff could do. It was Naive_One’s poor judgement in clicking the link that caused the problem.

The morale of this story is clear: If you don’t know the person well or don’t recognize the link, don’t click on it. The link you click can give someone else information about your machine or it may cause your machine to download spyware, malware, or a virus that corrupts your system.

Usually it’s safe to click on these links on GeekShed:

• Links to the GeekShed website.
• Links shared by network staff.
• Links to well-known sites, like Wikipedia or Jupiter Broadcasting.

Unless you know the person who shares the link, it’s best NOT to click on shortened links, because you cannot tell where they will take you. A bit.ly link might take you to Wikipedia or it could take you to a malware site. There’s no way to guess just by looking at the URL.

Finally, let me share a reminder from the GeekShed Terms of Service:

GeekShed is not responsible for the content you may transmit or receive. Due to the real time nature of IRC, we cannot monitor or police the exchange of data. To protect yourself, we highly recommend that you run a current antivirus program and never click on links from people you do not know.

So click safely, and make sure you keep your machine and network protected!

—posted by Tengrrl/Bunny