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People have been trying to cheat and otherwise victimize one another since, no doubt, we learned to walk upright. On the other hand, some people subordinate all or almost all personal goals to help their fellow man and woman. The vast majority of us-regular Joes and Janes who are trying to get ahead, playing by the rules, and avoiding problems-occupy the space between these extremes. The internet gives us tools for getting ahead, but it also gives the bad guys tools for getting us. Instant messaging and texting may be more popular with the kids, but email remains the most common way we communicate digitally. Using email is also an easy way to become victimized. Avoiding victimization requires a little knowledge of the common scams-new ones are popping up all the time-and a little common sense. A lot of advice about internet risks complicates the issue, and too much advice can scare you away completely, which is a needless overreaction. Still, you need to protect yourself; and even if you think you're protected, it never hurts to double-check.
There's no good reason for this. Many subscriptions with internet services providers (ISPs), such as Comcast (www.comcast.com), come with free security software, in this case McAfee Security Center. You simply have to enable it. If you don't have access to free software through your ISP, there are some very good free programs out there. AVG (http://free.avg.com) is a popular and highly regarded antivirus program available in both free and pay versions, with the free version providing excellent basic protection. Just make sure you don't use more than one antivirus program at a time; this can cause conflicts on your computer. An anti-spyware program is also a must to keep performance-sapping snoops at bay. Spybot Search & Destroy (www.safer-networking.org) is an excellent choice. Also, make sure you at least enable the software firewall that comes with Windows or the Macintosh operating system. Or you can download a free firewall; ZoneAlarm (www.zonealarm.com) is free for individual users. Reid Goldsborough is a syndicated columnist and author of the book Straight Talk About the Information Superhighway. He can be reached at reidgoldsborough@gmail.com or reidgold.com. |
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