Follow these few simple guidelines to help stay safe while you browse the internet.

1. Use an Antivirus program and keep it up to date. A free version of AVG Antivirus is available from AVG Free. The recent AVG Free 8.0 update also includes enhanced features such as Anti-spyware and link scanning for suspicious websites.

2. Use an Antispyware program and keep it up to date. Microsoft's free Windows Defender is available from Microsoft Security.

3. Use a firewall and keep it properly configured. The Windows firewall should be turned on and also confgure your modem/router on ADSL to act as a hardware firewall by disabling uPnP and only opening ports for programs you use. For more info on port forwarding visit Port Forward.

4. Turn on Automatic Updates and keep Windows up to date. Most malware infections in more recent times happen because a Windows system is not properly patched. Microsoft releases patches on a regular basis. Install these patches as soon as they are available.

5. Use an alternative Internet browser such as Firefox or Opera. Updating Internet Explorer 6 to Internet Explorer 7 is also advisable. IE7 has updated security features and is far superior to IE6.

6. NEVER open email attachments or browse suspicious or dodgy websites. Changing your own habits will prevent infections. Most infections occur because a user clicked or browsed to a website infected by an exploit. Similarly, using peer to peer file sharing programs is also risky, content on file sharing programs is often infested with malware.

7. NEVER open suspicious emails or follow the links in emails. This is how most users get caught out in phising scams. Financial institutions, eBay, paypal etc. will NEVER ask you to log in and verify your account details through an email, just delete them.

8. If you run a wireless network turn on encryption. The best encryption is WPA. If WPA is unavailable use WEP, it's better than no security at all. Use a strong password consisting of a combination of numbers, letters and punctuation in both upper and lower case, don't use dictionary words or names, places and anything else that might be easily guessable.