This MalwareBytes article poses a new and different view on computer viruses you might find thought provoking.

I knew about this. The language hasn't caught up.

I don't follow the news except for a cursory glance now and then, and I know that stories about ransomware aren't common. If you read Bleeping Computer.com or Ars Technica, you can learn how widespread cybercrime really is. Usually it isn't individuals like me who are the targets. It's institutions, companies, governments. These tend to be bureaucratic organizations that try to do things on the cheap, they do a poor job with their security, and they make easy targets. On our end, I'm not sure there's anything we can do about it.

Some of those institutions spend a LOT of money doing things not "on the cheap" only to become vulnerable to a careless or ill informed employee that unwittingly invites malware into the system. And there is a lot we can do about it on our end such as...

• staying informed and taking action when you become aware of cyber crime
• putting pressure on businesses that are penetrated by withdrawing or withholding our business and demanding others we do business with to do the same
• contacting your senator and congressional representative and demanding they take action to
  • protect the ballot box from cyber fraud,
  • require the electric power industry to harden their ancient and creaky power grid against cyber attack,
  • enter into international agreements to vigorously prosecute cyber crime across borders,
  • agree to the much more stringent EU internet regulations.[8]this list could go on for pages
• demand accountability and restitution from businesses, government agencies, and other institutions whose data gets stolen because they have not bothered to update their software.
• Remaining vigilant and suspicious when your own electronic security is involved to protect your data and to not become an unwitting carrier/spreader of malware.
• When you upgrade to Catalina and an app requests access to different facilities of your computer, don't be too quick to grant the request and maybe even ask the developer why such access is necessary before granting it.

…and that is just the start.

I've been using computers since 1980.

The only time I have seen malware was on my Dell laptop a few years ago running Windows 7. It came piggybacked onto a download of the 32 bit version of CCleaner by Piriform at File Hippo, which is supposed to be a reliable web site and supposed to check for malware. I had Malwarebytes and Avast on my laptop but they failed. CCleaner continues to be a popular program and File Hippo continues to offer it.

That's one reason Windows sucks. Took me a long time to restore my laptop to its previous condition, and that was with a backup.

Using computers and the internet (either or both) is an inherently risky activity. It may become riskier than driving a car. At some point in the future people may have to decide whether it is worth the risk.

Currently most people are willing to conform and go along with the Facebook and Twitter crowd. No one under forty seems to be able to imagine anything bad happening to them or anyone else. Trust in The Cloud, for instance, is foolishness bordering on cultlike behavior that will likely get all of us in trouble.

Nah, driving a car can get you or someone else killed; not so with a computer (unless you throw it at someone ) or the Internet (unless you go on it to find a hired killer ). But using cars or technology can result in excessive expenses.