NEVER, EVER, NEVER, EVER open an attachment directly from an email unless you are SURE you know the 
person it came from AND you were expecting it. "From" addresses are easily forged, so just because 
it says it came from your mom, doesn't mean it really came from your mom. 
You're better off disappointing mom by not opening that jolly Santa Claus Flash animation - 
that you are to click on it, infect your computer and then call mom and thank her for the email 
with the caveat, "Hey mom, I got your email with the Santa Claus.exe file attached, 
but the darn thing wouldn't open." "Honey? I didn't send you any Santa Claus.exe files. 
What are you talking about?" Ut Oh! Better scan your computer because Santa Claus could be in there 
right now sending your passwords to Faji HammaHamma in Lower Slobovia. 
And, gosh,  you never got to see Santa Claus dancing with those scantily clad, nubile elves either. 
Whoa! You really got hosed on this one.

NEVER, EVER, NEVER, EVER, click links in emails that appear to have come from financial institutions, 
credit card companies, or any place else that deals in money, sensitive information, and so forth. 
If you assume someone is stupid because they are a criminal, you're not being very smart yourself. 
Just because someone is a criminal doesn't mean they are stupid. Some are extremely smart. 
And they can send emails that look exactly like they came from American Express, Wells Fargo, PayPal, 
Bank of America, Chase and others. No bank or financial institution is ever, EVER going to send you 
an email asking you to click a link in an email and update your account - or your account password - 
or account information - or change your security settings. It's not going to happen. 
If you see an email and think your bank is the exception, you'll end up being the exception, err 
the victim. 
So, don't click links in emails from these kinds of institutions. EVER.
If you have a question about your account, type the URL in your browser, login to the site, 
and check your account.

TURN YOUR WINDOWS FIREWALL ON - We, as you know, are one of the three people in the whole world that 
doesn't recommend 3rd-party firewalls. And we have plenty of good reasons for that recommendation. 
Fortunately for you, we're not going to go into all those now. Just because we don't recommend 
any 3rd-party firewalls doesn't mean we don't recommend the Windows firewall. 
We do and you should NOT turn it off. You should leave it on. Got it? We do recommend the Windows 
firewall - do not turn it off. (Those of you still using Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000 and 
Windows NT, you have no choice but to go out and find a good 3rd-party firewall because these old 
versions of Windows don't have a built-in firewall.)

USE A GOOD ANTI-VIRUS - USE TWO OR MORE GOOD ANTI-SPYWARE PROGRAMS - We sound like a broken record
on this, but it's always worth repeating. Install one good anti-virus and keep it updated. 
Keep it updated. Keep it updated. Got it? Install at least two (2)anti-spyware programs 
and keep them updated. Keep them updated. Keep them updated. Got it?

TURN AUTOMATIC WINDOWS UPDATES ON AND LEAVE IT ON - The easiest way to keep your computer up-to-date 
with the latest Windows updates is to use Automatic Updates. It's built-in to your Windows XP 
and Windows Vista computers. 
Disregard all the Microsoft bashers and whiners that complain Microsoft is spying on you. 
They're not. But that being said, we'd much rather have Microsoft peering into our computers 
than Faji HammaHamma looking into our bank accounts and using our credit cards to buy AK-47s 
and Christmas presents for all the little HammaHammas.

DON'T KEEP CLICKING "LATER" - Keep Adobe Reader, QuickTime, Flash Player and those sorts of 
things updated. Install the latest patches and fixes. 
The next time your Adobe PDF reader asks you to install an update, don't click "later". 
Sometimes later never comes and sometimes later is too late. 
It might inconvenience you for a few minutes and you might have to stop playing with the Flash Ouija 
Board for awhile, but how important is it to find out if you're going to get a fruitcake from 
aunt Betty this year or those walking boots with Velcro ties you've been drooling over?

Thanks to "Cloudeight Internet" 
The above article is copyright ©2008 by Cloudeight Internet, http://thundercloud.net/infoave/index.htm