Security
Broadband provides your computer with a high-speed connection to the web. Normally, this is always on as long as the computer is on. This leaves you more vulnerable to security threats because the internet connection potentially provides permanent access to your computer from the outside world.
Unfortunately the internet is not always quite the nice place we all want it to be, so it is essential to take a few precautions to ensure the "health" of your computer system.
The first thing is to make sure no one can access your computer while you are on the internet, without you knowing about it. To prevent this you need a firewall. A firewall will control who and what can access your computer and also what you can do from your computer in accessing the Internet. A quality firewall product will permit you to describe exactly what your applications can do and what your applications can have done to them.
Firewalls are not perfect, some things can get past so you need to protect your system against the little ‘internet nasties' that do arrive. For this you need virus protection. A quality virus protector will spot those ‘internet nasties' as they arrive and prevent them from infecting your system, whether the vehicle for them is via an application attached to an internet site; a programme you've downloaded; a file that you've copied from a friend or something attached to an email.
Fortunately, both a firewall and virus protection can be bought in the same software suite and it's usually recommended that you use the same manufacturer of software for both virus protection and your firewall. In addition you will need to make sure that you have bought the regular updates package from your chosen software supplier. This will ensure your system is updated online on a regular basis and your protection is maintained. With broadband you'll hardly notice this happening.
One note of caution. If you have a small network of computers in your home or office you need to make sure that the firewall permits access between your computers. A quality firewall will also prevent access to some Internet sites that you'd prefer your employees or your family not to see. This censorship is not perfect and a determined user will find a way to access the material. There is no substitute for care in this area.
Once this is done there's another "bugbear" of Internet life. Unsolicited email. Just as with conventional post the volume of emails from unsolicited sources grows and grows and some of it can be quite offensive. There are a number of things that you can do. Firstly, never give your email address out to a company, either on paper or via the web, that you don't trust and always tick the box that instructs them not to pass the details on. Secondly, get a second email address via one of the free providers and use this for any sites you wish to subscribe to but are not sure about. This second address is never used amongst your friends and colleagues and is only used for the purpose of companies contacting you. As the volume of unsolicited email increases from this source, unsubscribe that email address and set up another. Some email providers and email packages permit you to setup "junk" mail accounts. These will block emails from anyone who is not in your address book. Whilst probably fine for personal email, it doesn't work well for business, where the numbers of new, legitimate sources grows rapidly.
Got all that? You're away.