Aside from the direct monetary theft, there are other security risks you need to consider. As you surf the net, many websites send you a plate of cookies. Not chocolate chip, but small programs which identify your computer, which may gather information about which sites you surf, and which may then send this personal, private information back to companies which use this to market various services and products to you. This is one reason your e-mail inbox fills up with spam. You are, in effect, inviting the spammers to annoy you.

So what do we do about it?

I will assume you are running a Microsoft Windows operating system. I make this assumption for two reasons: 1) It is by far the most common. 2) I don’t know a darn thing about Apple software.

So. If you have Windows 95, I recommend you update, assuming you have a fairly new computer which can handle the upgrade.

If you have Windows 98, I also recommend updating to Windows XP, with the same caveat.

The reason for this upgrading is that newer versions of Windows allow converting your hard drive file system to NTFS, which allows a more sophisticated security system. Using NTFS, you can set passwords for specific drives and folders, mark some for sharing, disallow sharing for others, etc.

Then, once you have upgraded, go to www.windowsupdate.com and do an update scan and update your system with all the critical items. This fixes numerous risky security glitches in the Windows XP operating system.

Next, go to the http://www.webattack.com/freeware/freeware.html

There you will find, under the heading of internet security and internet cleanup, a program called ilSystem Wiper. Download this program and install it, and on running, you will note you can select automatic temp file deletion, cookie cleanup, Microsoft Office file cleanup, etc. This piece would take way too much space if I explained all the aspects, but browse your cookies and checkmark the ones from specific sites (such as your online banking, etc., which you may need) and then, when you run ilSystem Wiper, it will delete the rest of the junk automatically. You can also set the program to run automatically on startup or on closedown.

Next, download ZoneAlarm, a free personal firewall, and let it run in default mode. After you learn more, you may want to get the paid-for version and make more sophisticated decisions.

Next, download Spy-Bot, update it, click on the “immunize” button, install the needed plug-in (all done from the program itself), and block the downloading of spy programs. Next, click on the Search and Destroy function and delete all the current spy programs infesting your computer. You could also download Ad-Aware and perform essentially the same functions, though by Ad- Aware version 6 there was no immunize function available.

Next, download Swat-It, a bot and trojan checker and update and run that. This may find and eliminate malicious programs loaded into your machine which allow it to be controlled and used by unscrupulous hackers.

There is a good bit more to follow at a later date, when I get around to it.

Thanks for reading. Your bank account and piece of mind may thank you if you act on these suggestions. And it’s FREE FREE FREE!

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Email Brooks A. Mick: brooks15@cox.net

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