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Keeping your personal information off the Internet can be a challenge, especially if you have ever filled out a form, made a purchase or joined a membership using your real information. If you have ever e-filed your taxes your personal information is sent over the Internet to the tax office.

So keeping our personal information off the Internet really means out of the hands of the unscrupulous. Keeping it secure. It's important because your personal information is your identity. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that up to 9 million Americans have been victimized by identity theft each year.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) lists many different schemes that are used on the Internet. Among them are spam, ponzi and pyramid schemes, the reshipping scheme, Nigerian letter "419" and many others. Most of them Involve obtaining your information for fraudulent use.

A Key-Logger is just one example of a virus which, if successfully installed without the users knowledge, can be used for stealing identity information. It will keep track of all keys pressed on your keyboard in hopes that eventually you make a purchase on line. When you type in your credit card number they then have what they want! What can you do to protect yourself?

Use a firewall.

Firewalls are designed to block all intrusions with the exception of those things you specifically indicate should be allowed through. Most businesses use firewalls because they are regarded as the number one security measure. Configuring one, however, can require some technical expertise, so you may want to do some research about it or just ask a technically savvy friend to assist.

Windows XP and Vista come with software firewalls. They can be very useful in protecting your PC and your information. Many organizations use hardware rather than software firewalls, because they offer stronger protection. For example, it is possible for a software firewall to be shut off by a virus.

Updates your operating system.

Companies that make your Operating System are constantly looking to repair security flaws so that hackers and virus writers are not able to get through. They do this by providing security updates that you can download and install from the Internet. So regardless of the OS you are using get the security updates provided regularly to keep your PC secure.

Use antivirus and anti-spyware/adware software

In addition, you will need a good Antivirus application such as Norton or McAfee. They are able to scan memory, disc storage,

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