Ever since I’ve had my first computer, I’ve always had fear of viruses. That’s why I’ve always been paranoid about using CDs, floppy disks (diskettes during those times), and even flash drives. But, unlike those people who suffer from technophobia, I went and faced my fear by knowing as much as I can about the causes of infection and the types of viruses that can infect my computer. I’ve come to the point that cleaning cookies, flagging files and shutting off autoplay functions has become a routine.
But recently, however, I’ve realized that infection comes in different forms. Especially now that the internet has allowed so much room for growth and evolution for hackers and their armaments, one can not afford to worry about just hard disk infections or viruses alone. There’s spamming, blog-hacking and, for the more daring criminals, identity theft. Scary right?! Now, there’s more than your computer to be worried about. You can actually be jailed by just being ignorant and careless.
The computer, and of course the internet, truly are two-edged swords. Never mind if I become too paranoid. I still believe it’s better to cover your tracks, log off, delete cookies, acquire some identity theft protection, and be vigilant especially with sensitive information when going online or using the computer. She may be gorgeous but no one wants to be like Sandra Bullock in that infamous movie (The Net). Right?