Firstly, the internet can be a scary place. Think of it as a very large metropolitan city. All cities have parts of town that most folks won’t go to or pass through. Shall we say, the shadier parts of town. And like any city, people can always find trouble if they go looking for it.

Even in the nicer parts of a city, crime does occur. maybe the crime rates are higher in certain parts of town than they are in others. But the unfortunate fact of life is that these things have been known to happen.

So, regarding the internet in these terms; may help you to take precautions to reduce the chances of you being experiencing mishaps in much the same way you would at home.

Anti-virus and security software can be interpreted as an equivalent as installing good locks, closing the windows while you are out and fitting burglar alarms. Also, watching where you park your car while you are out and never leaving valuables on display on the back seat and removing your sat nav from the windscreen – even if leaving your car for just a few seconds.

It’s fair to say that most crime or malicious activity on the internet – as in the “real world” is opportunistic.

Even if you are very new to the internet, I’m sure you will have heard news stories in the papers or on TV detailing things like computer viruses and hacker doing things. I will not say that this is scare-mongering, but You really should not have a computer without at the very least having some form of anti-virus software installed on it.

There are many reputable companys out there who offer great anti-virus packages for free and many other good companies that offer anti-virus and security software for very good prices. Please look around and pick one.This is the very first line of protecting yourself on the internet.