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email and downloads to prevent threats from entering through those avenues. Recently antivirus programs have added spyware and adware to their lists of threats.

On top of that, anti-spyware and adware software can be useful to catch those things the antivurus software does not. Spybot Search and Destroy is a very good one. It is free and has many useful features, particularly in advanced mode.

With both the antivirus programs as well as the anti-spyware programs it is good to keep them up to date. Using their update features weekly will make sure you have protection against all of the latest threats.

Use email and phishing filters.

There are phishing filters you can use to weed out many threats. Many browsers have filters to protect you from phishing web sites. There are email spam filters as well, which are useful against email phishing. But to protect you from the threats that do get through these filters, you need to be alert when on line or while using email. It also requires a little more insight into the thief's methodology.

Be cautious online.

Phishing can come in the form of a very authentic looking email. It may look like something from your bank, credit card company, or even from the IRS. They can be very good at making the email look authentic, so this is where being astute pays off. They may ask you to "click here" to update account information. This is a red flag, because businesses don't usually update account information via email!

If you were to click the link in the email, and I don't recommend it, it might take you to a web site that looks almost exactly like the business that the email purports to be from. This mock web site will then take your personal information, if you allow it!

The purpose here is not to scare you away from the Internet. Instead it is to alert you to the need to be on guard with all of the various offers and such you encounter there, especially when your personal information is being asked for.

Rather, the Internet is a very useful tool for business, research, shopping, entertainment, creativity, association and numerous other things. By educating yourself of the threats you can actually be more confident and enjoy the Internet even more.

Learn more about this author, David A. Goodwin.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

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