Today's internet is a wasteland of viruses, trojans, pop-ups, spam, spyware, and other evil little things that will cripple your computer, network, and sanity. There are, however, things you can do to battle this ever growing problem.

You must do the following things to protect yourself:

• Have antivirus software installed with the latest virus definitions. Here at NU, we install NOD32 on our PC's to protect us from threats. This software automatically fetches the latest updates for you. Another useful (and free) tool is the Stinger.
• To remove spyware/adware/malware, you must use a program meant for cleaning these types of threats. Antivirus software generally will not do this. We use software called Ad Aware. Feel free to download it from their site.
• Do not open file attachments from people you do not know.
• Watch for important e-mails from Information Technology warning of new threats and precautions.
• Get yourself a pop-up blocker. We like the one from Google. It is not intrusive and does a good job, while giving you a convenient Google Search in your browser menu. Pop-ups are the reason most people end up with spyware. People either purposely or accidently click on something that installs itself, and that thing invites all of its nasty friends onto your computer.
• Use a firewall.
• Run Windows Update regularly, and/or turn on Automatic Updates.