By: Niall Roche

The explosive growth of the Internet has meant that thousands of people are today experiencing the joys of being online for the first time. With growth there always comes pain. Be it your growing pains as a child or the growth and development of this part of our culture called the Internet.

Firstly we need to quickly explain what the Internet is and where it came from. The Internet is the offspring of a military project called Arpanet. Arpanet was designed to provide reliable communication during global nuclear war. A vast network of interconnected computers was set up all over the world to allow the various branches of US and NATO forces to communicate with each other.

Nuclear war never came (thankfully) and the world was left with a massive network of computers all connected together with nothing to do. Colleges and universities started to use these computers for sharing research internationally. From there it grew and spread outside of colleges to local homes and businesses. The World Wide Web was born and its father was a guy called Tim Berners-Lee.

When you're connected to the Internet you're sharing a vast network with hundreds of millions of other users. This shared network provides resources that 15 years ago were never thought possible. Unfortunately when something is shared it's open to abuse. On the Internet this abuse comes from hackers and virus creators. Their sole intent is to cause chaos and/or harm to your computer system and millions of other computer systems all over the world.

How do you combat this? You need an Internet security system. This might sound complicated but your Internet security system will be quite straightforward being comprised of just 2 - 3 Internet security products. We'll look at each of these products in more detail now:

Antivirus Software

The first and most critical element of your Internet security system is antivirus software. If you don't have up-to-date antivirus software on your PC you're asking for trouble. 300 new viruses appear each month and if you're not constantly protecting your system against this threat your computer will become infected with at least one virus - it's only a matter of time.

Antivirus software scans your PC for signatures of a virus. A virus signature is the unique part of that virus. It can be a file name, how the virus behaves or the size of the virus file itself. Good antivirus software will find viruses that haven't yet infected your PC and eliminate the ones that have.

Antivirus software can only protect your computer from viruses trying to infect it via email, CD-Rom, floppy disk, Word documents or other types of computer files. Antivirus software alone will not keep your computer 100% safe. You also need to use firewall software.

Firewall Software

The use of firewall software by home computer users is a relatively new occurrence. All Internet connections are a two way process. Data must be sent and received by your computer. This data is sent through something called ports. These are not physical things rather aspects of the way your computer communicates online.

Firewall software watches these ports to make sure that only safe communication is happening between your computer and other computers online. If it sees something dangerous happening it blocks that port on your computer to make sure your computer stays safe from the person who is trying to hack into your system.

An easier way to understand a firewall would be to picture your computer as an apartment complex. At the front door of this complex there is a security guard. Every person who enters the complex must pass this security guard. If the security guard recognizes the person entering as a resident he allows them to pass without saying anything. If, however, the person entering the complex is unknown to him then he will stop that person and ask for identification. If they have no business being at the apartment complex he escorts them from the building.

If you are not currently using firewall software your computer will get hacked into - that's a guarantee.

Popup Blocker

You can get a good popup blocker at no cost. An easy way to do this is to install either the Google or Yahoo toolbar. Both of these come with popup blockers built in. Popup are not necessarily dangerous but are a nuisance and using either of these toolbars will make your life that bit easier.

A simple rule for practicing online security is: "If in doubt then don't". If you don't recognize the file, the email address, the website or if your gut feeling says "no" then don't click that button.

Why Computer Security Software is Essential

A lot of reasons exist for people to use computer security measures to protect information that is important to them whenever they are online. Different forms of security software provides Internet users with the necessary protection that they require against viruses, worms and other forms of malware that infiltrate your computer and wreak havoc and steal personal information that could result in dire consequences for you.

One crime that computer security software can help prevent to a large degree is identity theft. Identity theft is a serious crime that affects a huge proportion of the global population on an annual basis. The effects caused by identity theft and associated crimes may result in a situation that it takes a long time to recover from. After suffering from identity theft you'll be very lucky if you can afford to get an educational loan or a job. Identity thieves are always out for one thing - to benefit themselves financially by using your identity.

One other benefit of using computer security software is that the computer security software was specifically crafted in order to prevent hackers from accessing computers that they have no right to access. This if often the best way to ensure that your privacy is catered for whenever you're online. Security software may also disguise and hide you IP address so hackers cannot use your IP address in order to target your computer system specifically and disrupt your computer system. Whenever you place security software on your computer system what you are trying to do is making sure that any personal information on your computer system is kept secure when you are in public locations such as an Internet café or a wireless hotspot in a hotel or an airport. Internet users who are always on the move will appreciate such security measures.

What you do when you use Internet security software is that you are securing all the data that is present on your computer with encryption software that is specially created for that task. Some other benefits that are provided by Internet security software is the elimination of various pop-ups as well as the security of the hard drives and the prevention of censorship by your ISP as well as a lot of other benefits. The Internet has done a lot in our lives by altering the way we live, the way we do our jobs and the way we have fun. We can instantly connect with people and businesses all over the entire world and it makes it easier for us to do simple things from searching for jobs online to conducting business via virtual offices. The different advances in the areas of the Internet have also increased the ease with which it takes to commit various crimes. In order to prevent these crimes from affecting our way of life the use of computer security software is essential for computer protection.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kelly_Hunter

It is not only identity theft and phishing that you have to be aware of when thinking of Internet security. Hackers, Trojans, Viruses, Spyware and Adware are threats that need to be provided for as well. A good place to start is common sense. Never open an email from an unknown recipient or a mail which contains an unknown attachment. A spam filter will assist you with this. A firewall and antivirus software are essential for Internet security. Remember to keep all security software updated.