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The Internet Industry Association Security Portal is supported by many of the leading security companies. They provide the IIA with regular alerts about emerging threats. Current warnings are summarised here.

A 'hacker' can be a person who simply likes to fiddle with hardware or software without any malicious intent. However, it has now become applied to what the computer security industry considers 'crackers' - that is people who abuse software and computer systems. It is illegal. Hackers often try to break into computer systems which are connected to the internet.

The lack of trust which permeates e-commerce means that the industry has to go that extra mile to deal with the natural reticence of people to deal with unseen entities in a virtual environment.

Consumer scams are crimes of dishonesty such as forgery, counterfeiting, on-line deception, and theft that are targeted at people who seek to purchase goods and services. All the indications are that they are increasingly targeting users of the internet. Check out what you can do to protect yourself and your computer.

Spam is generally understood to be unsolicited, commercial email sent in bulk to untargeted recipients. Spam has become a problem of increasing proportions, it is costly and a nuisance to users, it sometimes carries viruses or offensive content, and is generally unwelcome. Many people refer to it as 'junk mail'. It is an unwanted by-product of a free and open email system, encapsulating the power of the internet itself. However it threatens to undermine the utility of email itself.

Spyware is generally considered to be software that is secretly installed on a computer and takes things from it without the permission or knowledge of the user. Spyware may take personal information, business information, bandwidth; or processing capacity and secretly gives it to someone else. It is a growing problem. The Department of Communication, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA) has provided the IIA Security Portal with support so that this problem can be specifically targeted.

Spyware is generally considered to be software that is secretly installed on a computer and takes things from it without the permission or knowledge of the user. Spyware may take personal information, business information, bandwidth; or processing capacity and secretly gives it to someone else. It is a growing problem. The Department of Communication, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA) has provided the IIA Security Portal with support so that this problem can be specifically targeted.

Computer viruses have been around for many years. They are a particular threat to enterprises using e-mail to do business on the Internet. A computer virus is a program which has been developed to activate when viewed or opened and which can cause severe disruption to business systems, breach security or damage your computers information. Computer viruses symptoms can include erratic computer operation, data errors and other inconsistent responses.