Practise Safe Computing

Computer technology allows ID theft to some extent, so you need to protect your online activity as much as possible. If you are using a computer to connect with the internet, you must use the following software. A firewall, anti virus and anti spy ware.

• A firewall. This puts a 'ring fence' around your PC so that you decide which software programs you have installed on your PC are allowed to connect to the internet. It also prevents other computers on the internet from accessing your PC, without your permission, and reading data you have recorded.
  
  
• An Anti Virus programme. This will recognise computer viruses that are attempting to reach your machine, or which might have already been downloaded via an email attachment. These viruses can cause irreparable damage to your system, great inconvenience, and can steal personal information you may have recorded.
  
  
• An Anti Spy ware programme. Some unscrupulous sites will download a piece of software to monitor your surfing habits or seek out private information like passwords. This is called spy ware or mal ware. Anti-spy ware software will cleanse your system of this threat.

When you delete documents on your computer they may seem invisible to you, but with the use of specialised software they can be recovered. So it is a good idea not to give away or throw away an old computer of yours that at any time has been used for personal and financial information. For example, you may have sent letters to your bank or insurance company and saved copies to your hard-drive, or your computer may have been set up to remember passwords for you, and so on. All this could potentially be recovered by someone hell-bent on finding out any of your personal information.

Before disposing of a computer, remove the hard-drive and break it up. If you want to give the computer away to a family member or a friend, you would be well advised to wipe the hard-drive completely and to reinstall the operating system, so that the PC becomes as it was, when you bought it. This is not to suggest that you distrust family or friends, but you don't know how they will dispose of it in the future and it may still contain some of your personal data. It's just another way to practise safe computing.