Are you at risk of losing your privacy? Answer following three simple questions:

Do you shop or bank online? Do you use an "always on" high-speed Internet connection? Do you connect to Internet from your home computer?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions and you have a Windows computer – then you are at risk. Your computer needs to have appropriate protections and you must take extra steps to secure your computer and protect your privacy.

Why is this so critical?

A recent study on Internet security sponsored by America Online and National Security Alliance found that while most people thought their computers were secure upwards of 80% contained monitoring software known as "Spyware."

Spyware allows companies to download information from your computer without you even knowing it. Spyware represents a direct threat to online privacy and security.

But you can put a stop to it.

Here are 8 key actions for protecting online privacy:

1. Use a Personal Firewall. In addition to using an Anti-Virus program, a personal firewall is mandatory as it will block unwanted connection attempts. Sygate's Personal Firewall is a top-quality firewall and it's free for personal use. http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm

2. Use a Spyware removal program. You can't rely on your Anti-Virus program to find and remove all instances of Spyware. Ad-Aware from Lavasoft is free for personal use. Recommendation: run a full scan at least once a week. http://www.lavasoft.de/

Much has been said on theory of password protection for files, computer login, and other network access. In past we used a combination of letters, special characters, and other techniques to try and prevent unwanted or unauthorized access to our computers, resources, and networks. A new theory on passwords is emerging that may help us remember our access codes, be more secure, and generally keep hackers and thieves out of our networks.

A password is a combination of words, letters, and special characters that only user knows, allowing access to a computer or other information resources. As humans we have a large number of codes and numbers we need to remember every day – such as key lock on our apartment entries, national identification numbers, automobile license or tag numbers, telephone numbers – it is a large and confusing suite of items we need to memorize.

When selecting a new password or pass code for access to a computer system, most of us understand how difficult it is to remember complex codes, and thus we select something already know n to us, such as names, birthdays, national identifiers, or other known items, and then place a number or character in front of name or number thinking it is secure. This is easy to understand, as most of us simply do not have an ability to instantly recall large numbers of complex codes.

In a worst case we simply write down complex code on a piece of paper, and leave it in a desk, our pocketbook, or in many cases taped to front of our computer monitor.