According to a recent (albeit small) survey more people are now using virus protection software. Somewhat surprisingly the survey of 300 people suggested that as many as 85% of consumers and 95% of professionals used anti-virus protection. The bad news was that only 37% of consumers and 65% of professionals bothered to update the software at least once a month. Without up to-date virus definitions the practical benefit of the protection is substantially reduced.

The advent of ADSL, an always-on connection, opens new threats. Anti-virus software alone is not sufficient, rather a personal firewall is required. Firewall software at this level is relatively basic (with a cost similar to anti-virus software but see the end of this article) but is probably sufficient to prevent the average hacker from stealing your sensitive data (financial information, credit card details etc.).

Hacking technology is such that you may have been targeted without even knowing it. Firewall protection can warn of attempted intrusion and guard against "Trojan horses" sending information to a hacker or even legitimate applications sending reports of your activities to a web site without your knowledge. You can also specify which applications are allowed to access the Net.

Less than 20% of consumers and less than 50% of professionals currently use personal firewalls.

We must remember that the anti-virus and firewall companies would love us to believe that we are all terribly vulnerable and liable to be hacked at any moment. Practical experience suggests this is not quite the case. The point is that it could be and you may be next! You can buy reasonable security (and peace of mind) for a relatively modest outlay and safeguard your valuable information. Just like an insurance policy really.

A good personal firewall would be inexpensive and easy to install and use. It would offer clearly explained configuration options and would hide all ports making your PC invisible to external scans. It would protect your system from all attacks and would track all potential and actual threats. Zone Alarm offer just such a product, better still it is free for personal use and has a modest cost of about £13 for business use. It can be found at:

www.zonealarm.com