What are the ways you can get a trojan or virus. Should I worry?

Question

So if one was looking at an adult website and a new window pops up after you click something and when you try to close said window a tiny box pops up and then another on top of it asking you to hit okay if you want to leave the site, can you click ok and not have to worry about anything and also hit okay on the small box underneath it and still not have anything to worry about? I tried to quit safari instead of closing the boxes but it wouldn't let me do anything except click okay in bue to exit or hit cancel to keep looking at the new window. I have had that happen twice. Never put in or was asked for a password.
Should I be worried?

Answer 1

'Worry' is a problem more easily fixed than vulnerability to malware. Apple has no control over what you install on its computer, or what vulnerabilities Adobe or another company has built into its latest release. I like to backup regularly, and keep sensitive materials off your computer (on DVD, for example) until needed, when you can mount them.
Should you want to wander in such dangerous streets as 'adult' websites or security websites, 'worry' can be eliminated by switching your browser to Firefox, then add the 'Finjan' security extension. Now, when you use an internet search engine, Finjan will examine the links listed for attempts to install malware or engage in other suspicious activity. That should reduce your worry.
The latest Mac TV add says Mac laptops are very popular on university campuses. It's never too early to develop good security habits. Bad security habits are hard to break; and there will be a time when you need to.
The worst habit is not being careful: mistyping a popular website into the Google engine (I use the Wikipedia for a link to the real one), panicking when you get alarming e-mail, clicking a hyperlink on e-mail (without waiting for the real url to pop-up) rather that going there from a reliable bookmark or web-location icon (which is faster), paying with credit card rather than on-line bank, not clicking the little commercial icons to verify the legitimacy of a website. You get the idea: 'not bothering'.
When you click and button that says 'Click here to Close Window', it will often attempt to install malware. You can always 'Force Quit' from the poison apple drop-down menu instead, if you're trapped.
Bruce