Last year, while surfing over in America Online I happened to notice the Norton's symbol in my system tray flashing. This hadn't happened before, so I maximized the program; security Alert under my firewall program kept flashing. I clicked on it to see what was up. My firewall had blocked an attempt by a backdoor Trojan virus to invade my computer. I'd been through that twice already and I'm sure glad I didn't have to go through it again.

The newspapers and TV news ran stories about this the following morning, saying it came as an e-mail attachment and they gave ways to identify the offending e-mail. Perhaps you remember hearing about the infamous "Melissa Virus?"

The point here is you can't be too careful, especially in these times. When it tried to get into my computer, I wasn't running an e-mail program or even checking my mail !

The same scenario repeated itself again in January 2002 !!! You might remember hearing, or reading about it.

My first suggestion for you is to get your hands on firewall and/or virus software. There are good ones on the market to buy including, but not limited to Norton's. Some "computer" people may tell you it is a waste of time, especially in the case of virus software (because, they argue "how do old virus definitions identify new viruses?") and who knows, they may be right ? I argue that it can't hurt. A full program, such as Norton's Utilities provides much more than just your typical virus and firewall programs.

Just in case you missed the whole point outlined above, it was a firewall that first detected the suspicious activity.

PC Magazine - ZoneAlarm Pro Editor's Choice 1/16/01 "offering the most robust feature set of these personal firewalls, Zone Labs' ZoneAlarm Pro forms a barrier between your system and the Internet, protecting against intrusion, guarding against many types of malicious e-mail attachments, and preventing programs from secretly sending personal information out over the Internet."

A click on the above link will bring you to Trend Micro, Incorporated. Who says you don't get house calls anymore ? This fine organization will not only scan your computer for free while you're online, they can do it while you continue to surf the web!!! Don't forget to check the box to have any infections cleaned. As in the above case, the full program is available for sale if you like. It's very important to remember that any virus software you buy and install needs to be updated regularly in order to be effective !!!

If you haven't already done so, it's probably a good idea to run "Windows Update" at Microsoft if you are running Windows and/or Internet Explorer for the latest updates on these programs. Both are notorious for needing patches and/or fixes to resolve security issues. You can do this by either following the link from your "Start" button, or from "Tools" in your browser, or by simply clicking on the link here >>>> http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/?IE .