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once this sneaks onto your computer it sits quietly in the background recording all your keystrokes, then despatches them off to the originating computer periodically when it has access to the Internet. This downloaded data can then be sifted to provide account information, passwords, personal information, etc. If you use Internet Banking, this can include your bank account details, access codes and passwords! Again, a good two-way firewall is your best protection from this.

Virus hoaxes are emails that you receive, often forwarded from someone you know, warning you of a virus and/or telling you to delete a file. Do NOT follow these instructions, as these "warnings" are almost invariably false, intended to worry you or get you to delete a valid system file. You can check for hoaxes at the websites of most anti-virus providers, Symantec has quite a good list at:

http://www.symantec.com/enterp rise/security_response/threate xplorer/risks/hoaxes.jsp

Nowadays many people have their own local area networks (LANs) at home. This is an excellent, cost effective way of sharing Internet access between multiple computers within the home environment. While hard-wired are the most secure, wireless are becoming the most common, because they allow the easy transportation of laptops between home, work and commercial, such as coffee shop, networks. There is no reason not to take advantage of such wireless networks, just make sure that you get and take the appropriate advice from your supplier to make them as secure as possible.

Learn more about this author, Perry McCarney.
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