We should all do our bit in trying to keep the Internet running properly. We almost have a duty towards our fellow Internet users to do so. This article is a cautionary tale and it highlights the pitfalls of placing computer housekeeping low on the priority list.

That is quite frightening Martin

Thanks to you (I'm saying that seriously - not sarcastically), I am, at this very moment, running an antivirus check on my computer. My account had lapsed, so I had to pay for a new "subscription key", but I'm up and going again.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, TW. It's one of those things you don't think about until it's too late.

I understood some parts of the article, but not all of it totally. I delete cookies when I've visited different sites every nite or so in order to keep them from sending me stuff.

Do the Spam filters do their job? Spam is shifted to another folder depending on key words which I have entered. I check the folder and then delete mail without opening. Is that usually sufficient?
SSB

Cookies aren't really a problem as regards this particular issue. Some cookies are beneficial to your computer, login ones for instance. The 'What a gyp' thread might be worth looking at as regards cookies.

Spam is related because viruses and worms might come along as file attachments. Filters won't always trap this sort of thing, so it's best to take note of the following:

What the article really says is that we should all have proper security measures in place or it could lead to getting switched off by the Service provider.

The key things to do are:

Visit 'Windows Update' regularly to get fixes for discovered vulnerabilities in Windows, Outlook Express and Internet Explorer. You should find a shortcut to Windows Update somewhere in your Start menus. The update process is an automatic one. Click the 'Scan for updates' button when you get to the Microsoft site.

*Always keep a firewall running. There are some free ones you can use.

*Install antivirus software and keep it up to date. Use it to scan e-mail file attachments. Most antivirus programs pick up on viruses as they arrive anyway.

*Don't open file attachments when you don't know where they have come from.

*Peferably, only read messages in plain text. True, they are not so pretty but you can be sure they won't contain any malicious code that way.

*As a double precaution scan any e-mail file attachment for viruses with up to date virus software, even if you do know where it's from.

If you haven't been doing at least some of the above up to now it might be worth scanning your entire system with antivirus software to make sure nothing nasty is lurking there. Also consider using a spyware program (see the 'What a gyp' thread).

*EDIT* Qualified paragraph 2 a bit.

OK. Good information, and made it more clear for me.
Thanks,
SSB