The Art of Internet Survival

By now most of you should know about the fact that your presence online exposes you to bugs, viruses, and a variety of other malicious software ("malware") that runs the gamut from code or software programs doing little or no damage to those that bring your computer to a grinding halt or render it useless. Breathes there a soul out there who did not know of this risk, you can no longer deny knowing about it! Under the theory that "Forewarned is forearmed" (or at least gives you the opportunity of arming yourself against the invading hoards), I will briefly note that you should not take your computer for a stroll along the Internet without taking prophylactic measures such as installing good antivirus and antimalware software. Those of you who opted for the Mac OS platform on the theory that Macs have a built-in immunity to such bugs and viruses can no longer sit by smugly snickering at your friends and acquaintances on the Windows platform. You see, the assertion that Macs had immunity to viral attacks comes under the heading of "IT legend." IT legends, like urban legends, may have a kernel of truth in them, but they generally overstate the case to the point of inaccuracy. The truth of the matter is that the Mac OS for many years had a very small portion of the market. Additionally, until fairly recently, it ran on a different processor than Windows OS computers. As a result, the writers of code for such invasive software opted not to write much in the way of malware to attack computers on the Mac OS. Buying a Mac to avoid malware thus became somewhat like doing jumping jacks on the corner of 42nd Street and Broadway in New York to fend off elephants. It may work in the sense that while you might find a few wolves at 42nd and Broadway, and maybe a few lions of the theater, you don't see elephants at that location. But on the other hand, you wouldn't see live elephants there even if you did not do jumping jacks. If you depend on software that only runs on Windows (some legal software has that limitation), cheer up, the Mac has had the ability to run Windows very well ever since Apple converted to Intel processors. Take note, however, that no matter what configuration you use to run Windows on a Mac, you will still run Windows, and that fact makes your computer more susceptible to attack. Accordingly, if you run Windows on your Mac, you will want to install separate Windows-based antiviral/antimalware software to protect your computer from Windows-targeted m