Editorial: Be A Responsible Net Citizen

Safety and security is a big issue on the Internet these days. And what may seem like common sense to a lot of Web users may be new information for the less Web-savvy population. So to help those less-experienced Web users, we’ve put together a list of basic concerns that everyone should be aware of.

Don’t spread viruses: Everyone should know this, but the fact is viruses still keep spreading so someone must be at fault. If you don’t have virus protection on your home and work computer, you are asking for trouble – and you may be contributing to the spread of viruses. And just having an anti-virus program isn’t always enough – your virus definitions and anti-virus subscription must be kept up-to-date to protect your computer from the latest viruses. Viruses can lock you out of your files, change or delete your data, turn your computer into a spam machine, and do any number of harmful things to your computer and your data. Many of the spam messages sent throughout the Internet are sent by computers of which users don’t even know they are infected.