What can you do then to defend against these threats? For starters, buy your PC, hardware from established, respected vendors. If you buy an HP, Dell, Acer, Sony, or other such brand name PC the odds of it being compromised with pre-installed malware out of the box are pretty low. If you buy an Apple iPad, Google Nexus 7, or Amazon Kindle Fire you will most likely get a device . But, if you go bargain shopping online and buy a PC or knock-off tablet from a shady, unknown site the risk is higher.

Regardless, don't assume that just because your PC or mobile device is brand new that it must be safe and . And, you might not want to trust the pre-installed security software, either, since you can't verify that it's legitimate and free from malware itself. Make sure you install a reliable cross-device security tool to detect and identify malware that may already be present.