Internet Insecurity

Yesterday I added Leo Laporte’s podcast to my iPod. I first saw Leo on MSNBC when the network started in 1996. Remember MSNBC was a joint venture of NBC and Microsoft. It was supposed to be a tech-oriented news network. There was a show that was hosted by Soledad O’Brien. Leo had a tech advice segment on the show. Next I saw him on the Screensavers program on Tech TV on digital cable. The Screensavers changed, and Leo disappeared. Now he has a tech advice radio talk show which is podcast. This is a link to his website: Leo Laporte: The Tech Guy on KFI.

When I listened to all his callers seeking help because of pc’s infected with viruses and spyware, it really began to worry me. Leo now is strongly advising that home computer users switch to Mac’s. I have never considered switching to a Mac, but it is something to think about.

This morning while I was already feeling rather paranoid about my computer, a balloon popped up that told me my anti-virus software license had expired; and I had to upgrade. I use Trend Micro’s PC-cillin simply because Sony had it installed on my pc when I bought it. The last time I upgraded I had trouble installing the new version because I did not know I had to uninstall the old version before installing the new version. This time after paying for the upgrade and downloading the new version, I uninstalled the old version. To be safe before I did the uninstall, I unplugged my WiFi router so I was not connected to the internet for the period while my pc was without virus protection. I managed to install the new anti-virus software and reconnect to the internet. All appears to be going well.