After seeing movies or reading about computer viruses and "hacking" or "cracking," many people begin thinking there is little or nothing they can do to prevent their important information from being stolen or damaged if they use the Internet.

The reality is, if you use a little bit of common sense and take a few precautions, there is almost no chance of getting a virus or having your information comprised over the Internet.

There are the five major rules for protecting your computer.

Rule One: never download a program from the Internet from a company with which you don't feel comfortable.

I only get programs from major commercial sites that have a great deal to lose if a virus was ever found on one of their programs.

Imagine if you downloaded a small program from Microsoft Corporation's Web site (whether it was their program or someone else's) and found it had a computer virus that erased your hard drive. You and everyone else affected could sue Microsoft, their name would be smeared and they would lose a great deal of trust and goodwill. Microsoft, like most commercial companies, thoroughly screens their programs and scans them for viruses.

Almost anything you find on ZDNet Software Library, Mac Download or Shareware.Com can be assumed and any "name brand" company.

Rule Two: don't allow Web site programs to be automatically run on your machine.

Some Web sites you visit may ask you to save and run a program to see additional information. While you can not get a virus from just saving a program, you can if you run it. Browsers are initially set to stop all foreign programs from saving and running until you give explicit permission.

What you can do is save the program down to the computer and then run a virus checker on it before actually running it. Then you can feel confident it is safe.

Rule Three: get a virus checking program and use it.

Once you have the virus checker on your computer follow the directions in it carefully to make sure you currently have no viruses on your system and then use it like it is recommended to make sure you keep them off.

Most virus protection systems are very fast and accurate. I personally use F-Prot religiously and download the new version every three months.

AntiVirus Resources is a non-biased, anti-viral Web site that give links to anti-virus software and information about computer viruses.

Rule Four: protect your passwords and change them often.

Here are suggestions for the picking and using a good password.

1. Pick something you will remember
2. Don't use passwords that someone could figure out if they knew you well or use any information someone could easily find out
3. Don't use the same password on all your systems (if someone cracks one password they would effectively crack them all)
4. Try to use passwords that are made up of upper and lowercase letters (mixed casing), numbers, and special characters (ie. %, #, +, ^) when possible
5. Never give out or write down your password (this is the number one breach in computer security)
6. If you absolutely have to give out your password, change it as soon as possible
7. Bad passwords would include names and nicknames of family members, pets, companies, Social Security numbers, driver's licenses, birth dates, ages, or any of these written in reverse.
8. Good passwords would include CraZy4U!, 1+7=Ate, ?QuePasa?, TheRainInSpain, 5six-7eight, or anything combining multiple words and using mixed casing and lettering.

Rule Five: never give out personal information, especially credit card numbers, on sites that are not secured.

If you want to know if a site is secure, look for the icon. If secure, Netscape Navigator 1.1 or later displays a solid key with a dark blue background on the lower left corner of the browser. If the key is broken and is on a light blue background it is unsecure. If secure, Microsoft Internet Explorer displays a locked padlock on the lower right corner of the browser. If secure, Netscape Communicator 4.0 or later displays a locked padlock in the navigation toolbar.

If the site is secure, there is almost no way your information can be hacked or compromised unless the company you are doing business with abuses it.

Finally, for more information about security while on the World Wide Web than I could put here, visit The WWW Security FAQ.