What Scares Me About The Internet

What scares me about the Internet? Not much, really. Having taken several computer classes over the years, I know what I’m doing when it comes to what websites I shouldn’t visit and not clicking on random pop-up ad’s or spam emails. My only real concern at the moment is for the security of my laptop, since it currently has no anti-virus or Internet security software; so for right now, I only visit the websites that I need to. I’ve had my fair share of viruses in the past, mainly from downloading music off of a peer-to-peer file-sharing program Limewire. For further security, I now exclusively use Opera Internet browser as the only browser on all of my computers. Aside from being somewhat faster, it has better encryption and a better pop-up blocker than most browsers. I am also planning on getting a new iMac because of the lack of viruses and the increased security of its operating system.



To solve the whole malicious software problem, people just need to be more aware of what they’re doing while surfing the Internet. If everyone could wake up and realize that ad’s advertising a free computer or free iPod would be too good to be true, none of these companies would have any way to make money. Also, I have come to find that most of the victims in the stories involving these fake ad’s or malicious programs are older people, usually above the age of thirty-five. Quite a few people in my family have fallen for these scams; every single one of them were forty years or older. If Internet providers or email clients could offer some sort of guide for people new to technology, I believe that Internet fraud would be less likely to occur. Until then, people will just have to learn from their mistakes.