Crucial as it is to protect yourself from malicious hackers outside, those bad guys represent only half of the threat. The Internet has proven to be an extremely fertile transportation medium for all manner of nasty Trojan horse programs, rapidly proliferating viruses, and privacy invading commercial spyware. As a result, it is no longer true that all of the potential problems reside outside the computer.

"Your Internet connection flows both ways . . . so must your security"

Not only must our Internet connections be fortified to prevent external intrusion, they also provide secure management of internal extrusion. Any comprehensive security program must safeguard its owner by preventing Trojan horses, viruses, and spyware from using the system's Internet connection without the owner's knowledge. Scanning for the presence of Trojans, viruses, and spyware is important and effective, but if a piece of malware does get into your computer you want to expose it immediately by detecting its communication attempts and cut it off from communication with its external agencies.