Sure, a computer is a great tool and it can be fun for you and your family but you at least need to keep it secure so you can protect you data and personal information.

Now as you red this article there are hundreds of viruses all over the internet. What are you chances of getting a computer virus? Well, that just depends on how often you use your computer and how you use it.

First let's understand the internet and how it works. The internet is a wonderful thing. It is a network of computers all linked together in one way or another. With the internet you can write emails and even search your local library.

The world wide web is different. This is where you surf to see web pages. The web is a collection of computers called servers all linked together so you can call up web pages and see them.

Can you get a virus from the web? Yes you can. But lets focus on the internet here. Remember how I said the internet is different from the web? It is mostly the internet that causes the problem. You see the internet is what you use for email and email is where viruses can really spread and fast.

Remember the web is a collection of computers with web pages on them so you can surf and see them. But, the internet is just about everyone's computer in the world. That means you and I.

This is why you have to learn to protect your email and learn what you need to look for in email.

If you take a moment and think that email is on just about everyone's computer in the world, you can start to see where problems might start.

Someone creates a virus type program and what is the number one thing a virus does? It duplicates itself.

Are you starting to see the picture here?

So, that certain someone creates a virus programs and sends it out to let's just say one person. All it takes is that one person clicking on that email or opening an attachment to activate the virus.

That virus then starts to spread to others because it was written that way and told to do so.

Now that you understand how a virus works. Learn how to protect yourself.

The number one thing you can do besides having some kind of anti virus software on your computer is, learn to be careful opening attachments in your email.

This is how viruses spread faster than anything on the internet. If you do not know who the email with the attachment came from, then do not open it. Just click delete and throw it away.

If you think it may have been an important email from a friend or company, then all you have to do is call them up and ask them.

This is a much better solution then losing all of your data.

Remember, just be careful what you open and your life will be that much better.