PC security is a critical part of keeping you and your identity safe on line.
You would know if someone has broken into your house but it's much more difficult to know if someone has got into your computer.
Therefore you need to ensure you have adequate protection on your machine to stop computer hackers (people who break into computers and steal data) and botnets (computers controlled by criminals doing the dirty work for the hackers).
Two terms you will hear a lot when it comes to PC security are 'Antivirus' and 'Firewall'.
Antivirus An antivirus product will protect your computer from becoming infected by computer viruses which come in the form of trojans (programs which take over your computer and allow it to become controlled by another computer on the internet - thus becoming a 'botnet'.
Or - They can also be attacked using a denial of service attack which stops your computer being able to be access the internet.
Antivirus products from companies such as Comodo, Norton and McAfee offer home user protection from this.
Firewall A firewall can come in the form of a hardware firewall - which is a physical network device which sits between your internet connection and your computer, or a software firewall.
The software firewall is installed on the PC it is protecting and scans network data (known as packets or traffic) coming into and going out of the computer.
The ideal situation is to have all 3 methods stated above.
Most modern routers (the device that allows you to share your broadband connection) have inbuilt hardware firewalls and so installing a software firewall and antivirus package on the computer will give it 3 levels of protection.
Provided all are up to date you should have full protection while on the internet.