5 Fast-Spreading Computer Viruses

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It's a dangerous cyberworld out there, protect yourself.

Does it ever seem like everyone's out to get you? On the Internet, that is. Your every keystroke being followed, prying eyes over your shoulder when you enter in a password, fake Nigerian princes luring you with the promise of riches? You're not paranoid, you're pragmatic.

Operation Ghost Click, the largest cybercrime ring to date, was just brought down by international law enforcement efforts. Its unraveling made clear that just seven people in Russia and Estonia for a payout of $14 million could infect 4 million computers. Victims—from home users to NASA—had their browsers hijacked so that when they clicked on what they thought were legitimate web pages or ads, they instead ended up on pages that netted the criminals cash.

Spyware, phishing scams, malware, vulnerabilities, and misleading applications can all cause not just the hassle and expense of a system crash but the compromising of your most sensitive information.

So, what can you do to make sure you're protected? Make sure that you have up-to-date antispyware and antivirus running on your system with a firewall in place. Keep on top of software updates; even an outdated version of Adobe Acrobat can leave you vulnerable. Create passwords that won't make you prone to getting pwnd.

Internet threat detector Kindsight has just released a chart that tracks the movements of the top 20 perpetrators out there. Some of them are repeat offenders. Here are five of the fastest-spreading viruses that you'll want to avoid catching.

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