The use of the Internet a home and in schools is still increasing and it is almost unthinkable to imagine a home without an Internet connection. Families cannot live without the Internet anymore and kids as well as adults spend an average of 3 hours a week on the Internet. The most used features and options of being online and making use of the Internet is: checking e-mail and staying in touch with family and friends through e-mail, chatting online by using programs such as AIM, Yahoo or MSN (the most popular program) and browsing the Internet for information. A very popular fourth reason why people are spending more and more time online is the fact that is getting more and more normal and accepted to use the computer for telecommuting (working online).

With the fact that the Internet is used so much, also come dangers and computer related problems. Kids need protection from people who use the Internet to get in touch with children when they shouldn't and just like in the ' normal' world, the Internet is being used to bombard people with advertising. Companies actively create databases of contact details of people spending time on the Internet and so-called cookies are implemented into websites to grab the details (such as the IP address) of people visiting specific websites. It is impossible to tell when this happens but this often results in people receiving unwanted e-mails advertising services or goods.

Spyware and malware are small programs that are sent to people along with unwanted e-mail mesages or they can be picked up by downloading files from the Internet. Sometimes spyware ends up on a PC after visiting certain websites. The spyware often goes unnoticed till a computer starts to function differently and the machine is (for example) running slower. Spyware can cause problems in the system of a computer and can cause all kinds of problems from slowing down the machine to sending out files from the PC of a user to another PC without the owner of the machine realizing it.

Spyware and malware can be removed from computers by using a good virus scanner and spyware and malware removing device. It is best to install a spyware detection program on your PC anyway if you are spending time on the Internet. Most of these programs will detect the spyware or malware as soon as the PC system recognizes one of these potentially dangerous files.

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