I read an article from PC Magazine recently. It was titled “Day in the Life of A Web 2.0 Hacker.” Because many of my days consist of repairing damage done by viruses and hackers to people’s computers, this article was of interest to me.

I like the Internet. I remember years ago my first experience with the Internet. It was exciting to be able to read Web pages created by people many miles and countries away from my home. It was exciting to be able to connect with new people. The Internet was a new information highway that would revolutionize our life.

There is no question that the Internet has changed the way we receive our news, the way we do business and the way we are in touch with people. However, reading this article confirmed what I have been feeling recently. I am frustrated with the dangers that the Internet has invoked upon our society. I am frustrated with the controls we need on our computer to keep our information safe. I am frustrated by the lack of security enforcement by law officials.

Mr. Day In The Life of a Hacker started writing viruses and attacking networks to show off how smart he was. He claims it isn’t even a challenge because many people do not run security on their computers. He claims we make it easy for him. He steals information from Internet applications we use. He infects our computers by making fake profiles on such sites as MySpace. Visit his page and his code will infect your computer.

His list goes on to explain about his planting malicious iframes in Web sites that we already trust. That iframe sends you to another Web site, which sends you to an attack server but leaves you thinking you are still on your trusted Web site. In the end he does it because he makes money by stealing our information.

The Internet makes it easy for our voices to be heard. We can create blogs for our opinions and we can respond to newspaper stories. The Internet also makes it easy to be cruel to other people. I read with interest the comments on many news stories. Some of the comments are very well thought out and positive. Many of the comments are agreeing to disagree comments. There are also the cruel and nasty comments that the Internet makes easy for people to crush other people’s spirits. I often wonder if the people that make those derogatory comments would make the same comments if they could not hide behind the anonymous signature.

What ever happened to respecting the others viewpoint and agreeing to disagree in a manner that is constructive and not cruel? Is Mr. or Mrs. Anonymous so miserable and unhappy that they find fuel in cutting others down? The Internet has made this easy. There is no name or face behind these comments. Are they any different from Mr. Hacker? Mr. Hacker steals information. Mr. or Mrs. Cut People Down steals something just as valuable. They abuse the right of free speech at the expense of those that are actually interested in contributing valuable comments.

On Sept. 25 the Protect Our Children Act was passed by Congress. This act increases funding to fight Internet predators. It allocates funds for high-tech computer software that will track down Internet predators. How sad is it that we have to have such a bill. How aware are you that this is happening on the Internet?

I have to tell you that even though I work on computers every day I am always shocked to find the next surprise those hackers and scam artists have used to intrude in our lives. I am also like most people I think, and that is that I do not take the precautions I should take to keep information safe.

Most people want to use their computer to do the things they want to do. They want their e-mail. They want to surf the Internet. They want to share pictures. They want to chat with their friends. Most people do not want to spend their time — and it is time-consuming — taking care of the protection on their computer. Most people do not want to take the time to learn the ins and outs of the programs that they download. They just want their computer to work and they want to be able to enjoy using their computer.

The new security programs are good. The problem with many of the new programs is that they put blocks and watch everything we do on the computer and sometimes they make it difficult for us to understand how they work. These programs sometimes block sites that we want to use. These programs sometimes warn us more than we want.

Why am I writing this column? There is no fun in this column. I don’t feel funny about the Internet right now. I am here to tell you to put a good security suite on your computer and learn what it does and what you need to do to keep your computer and information safe. Make sure you update your virus signatures, keep your firewall on and be careful what you open.

Be careful of the personal information you share with others. Create strong passwords that contain a mix of numbers and letters and don’t use the same one for all Web sites. Watch what your kids and teenagers are doing on the Web.

All of these precautions may not protect you completely but they will help.

“The computer was born to solve problems that did not exist before.” — Bill Gates

Wells resident Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Monday. Send e-mail to her at thecolumn@bevcomm.net.