This page is not here to push any one piece of software, be it commercial, shareware or freeware. It has been written because of the proliferation of security problems on the net, including virus attacks, spam email, spyware programs, and intrusion attacks against computers like yours and mine. There are ways to protect yourself against attacks of this kind, and thankfully, most of them are free to use as well. Below I'll show you many of them (to my knowledge, no one has a list of all) and will point out the ones that I personally use. So settle back and enjoy.

First, some explanations and terminology.

Viruses are computer programs written by people to specifically destroy information or equipment. Why are they written? Your guess is as good as mine. Some are written by disgruntled employees of computer software companies, especially if the writer has been reprimanded, or indeed, fired from that company. Others are simply written by jerks who don't know you, who think that destroying property of those they don't know and who can't hit back is a fun thing to do. Sorry, but I have no time at all for cowards and idiots like virus writers, and yes, I'll probably now get bombarded with viruses because I said that. However I'm one of those who fights back, and I fight dirty. If you have never encountered a virus, you will. It is inevitable. Even antivirus software can only protect you so far. Thus, if you get unsolicited email from someone you don't know, don't open it. In fact, don't even download it from your Internet Service Providers machine to yours (and yes, I'll show you how to do that). So, take it as read that you need some form of virus protection software resident and running on your machine.

Spyware is software that is usually installed on your computer "Note: without your knowledge or consent". That's right. This type or genre of software will not only install itself without telling you it has, it will then usually trace where you have gone online, how much time you spend online on average, what interests you may have, and then reports all of that data, again without asking you if you mind, to an advertising agency so that they can better aim ads at you in the hope that you'll buy something from their client. Still feel safe?

Spam is the internet term for unsolicited advertising that ends up in your email box, aka Junkmail. Again, if you don't have any now, you will have. It's only a matter of time. You get it by signing up for things, by telling some company that it is ok to send their advertising to you (if you've ever registered a piece of software online, you most likely did that when you didn't really read the full version of their privacy policy and clicked Ok), or you've simply passed your mouse over some spot on a website that is geared to then find out who you are, where you're from, and in some cases garner your email address at the same time. So no, email advertisements offering to increase your bust or penis size, or sell you Viagra online, didn't get there necessarily because someone at your place visited a porn site. You got it (or you will) because of much less sinister activities than those. The term "spam" was taken from an old Monty Python sketch where the restaurant only has meals that include spam (eggs and spam; toast, eggs, bacon, and spam; hotcakes, spam, bacon, eggs, and spam; etc. and yes in some it is repeated as spam, spam, eggs, bacon, spam, toast and spam). In other words, it's everywhere.

And guess what? According to recently released figures from studies done by security firm Mirapoint and the market research company called the Radicati Group, one in ten users have bought products advertised in junk email. DO NOT do that. And, do NOT reply to the friendly sounding offer at the bottom of the email that says if you click here they will remove you from their email list. They won't. In fact, all you do is confirm your email address is valid, thus opening the floodgates of even more junk email that clogs your inbox and the internet in general, even wider.

Firewall protection is something that if you don't already have on your computer, you need - yesterday. Think of a firewall in a hospital (picture swinging doors between wards with the warning sign that these doors must ALWAYS remain closed for safety reasons). The reason behind those is that if a fire occurs in one ward, as long as the doors remain closed, it will not (or at least will take longer to) spread to the next room or ward. The same principal applies to your computer. When you are connected to the net (and if you have broadband, you ALWAYS are connected to the net) your computer is wide open to attack by spammers, spyware installers, hackers (who may or may not plant viruses on your system), and anyone who knows a little computer geek stuff and wants to snoop around your pc for whatever reason.

Now, rule number one. Don't Panic. There are simple measures that, when taken and run on some regular basis, will protect you and your pc and your family from just about all of these threats. Listed below are links to enable you to find and download to your own machine, programs that, once installed, will protect things for you. Some will require a little help in setting up (simply find a local computer geek - your kids or grandchildren are a good place to start) but some literally do all of the work for you. I'll elaborate as we go along. I will also point out which ones I personally use, though the others listed here I've heard good reports about. If a program you know of isn't listed here, either I don't know about it (quite likely) or I don't consider it worth mentioning. Thus, drop me a note and let me know your favorites as well.

In the lists below, please, for your own protection, download all from the category dealing with Spyware, and one from the other categories. Write down where you have saved these programs that you download, then when finished, double click on them and install the programs. In many cases you may find it easier to simply save them to your desktop and install them from there. Ok, let's look at the categories and their programs.

Email Checkers

Anti Spam Tools -dot- com Filter Spam without receiving it!

Spamihilator - Anti-Spam-Filter

SpamPal Download - Download Free from Scan Complete

Spam-Stop.com Protecting families from Spam

Mac Uses

MailWasher Pro This used to be freeware but no longer is. However the price is small compared with the program you get and I still consider it the best one out there.

AntiVirus Programs

AntiVir Personal Edition Classic

AntiVirus Freeware Free BitDefender Windows-Linux

Mac Uses

Grisoft Freeweb AVG Free Edition

FireWall

Zone Labs Zone Labs, Internet security products, online safety, software, protection

Mac Uses

Sygate Personal Firewall Click on Download and Buy, then on Free Download. This one is particularly good as it also will trace those prodding your system and tell you who to report to the proper authorities.

Spyware Killers

Ad-Aware SE Personal - Software - Lavasoft

Spybot - Search & Destroy at Download.com

Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) Home

Mac Uses - ALL THREE of the above

Pop-up Killers and Track Erasers

Mac Uses

All-in-One SECRETMAKER freeware

As I said above, don't let this all scare you, but do protect yourself just as you have to when you venture out of your home. Stay safe, protected, and enjoy your surfing *smile*.

 

Rebecca Game of "Digital Women - Women with their modems running...", is a graphic designer who is superb to say the least. Rebecca designed this "new look" web site specifically for me, and I can't praise her work enough. Her site, dedicated to women on the net, is worth seeing and bookmarking for future reference. If you are looking for links of interest to women, please visit her site. And if you need the best graphic designer on the planet, I seriously can't recommend her more highly. Oh yes, and when you visit her site, tell her Mac sent you. Thank you Rebecca. I am eternally grateful for your assistance and expertise. ;-)

Find ANY word Find ALL words  Find EXACT phrase    Help

You can choose to search The Net or My Site via Google based on the "Family Friendly" content found on my site from here. The balloons show sites close to the content of my site.

	Web www.upnrunning.com.au

You are the latest of