Protecting your home computer includes protecting it on several fronts, and arming yourself with some knowledge. The more you know, and the more prepared you are, the better your protection can be. Let's break it down a little.

Anti-virus: There are over a hundred new viruses created every week. Some of these do little more than cause an inconvenience, but many others can cause a good deal more damage to programs and data. After over 15 years in the computer industry, I recommend purchasing a quality anti-virus software package. I realize that there are free AV programs on the market, and they are indeed better than no protection at all, however I do not endorse the use of these if there is any way at all to purchase a good package. The reason is that it costs a great deal of money to research the many new viruses each week, and come up with removal strategies to take care of them. Free software generally isn't backed with enough revenue to do this research. Since good antivirus software typically costs about $30-$40 a year, it isn't at all a bad price to pay for the protection you receive. I have yet to meet a computer user that didn't have more than $40 worth of programs and data on their computer, which could easily be wiped out in a virus attack. Also remember that even a computer that isn't connected to the internet can get viruses.

Firewall software: This software is not the same as anti-virus software, nor does it have the same purpose, but it is still important to overall protection. Firewalls are designed to control unauthorized communications to or from your computer. Many people would be totally astounded at the amount of personal data that is routinely stored on their computers, and a good firewall makes it much more difficult for a hacker to steal this information, or for a program to transmit it. In fact, though a firewall is designed for a different purpose, it can even lessen the likelihood of getting computer viruses.

Unlike AV programs, there are many firewalls that are very good, but which cost nothing. My own preference is for ZoneAlarm, however a person should be comfortable with whichever they use. The program should be user configurable, so you can control how and what it blocks, and what kind of alerts it gives you. Note that the two largest AV manufacturers, Symantec Corporation (www.symantec.com, makers of Norton Anti-Virus) and McAfee (www.mcafee.com, who produce McAfee Anti-Virus) both offer an internet

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