SEATTLE - A new report shows on-line threats can hurt you in many different ways -- believe it or not, $7 billion is the estimate of how much money consumers lost to Internet thieves during the past two years.

Viruses, spyware and phishing attacks are just some of the ways the Internet continues to be a dangerous place. That's the conclusion of the Consumer Reports' "State of the Net Report" released Monday afternoon.

The survey of 2,000 households with Internet access shows that you now have a one in four chance of becoming a cyber-victim.

Cybercrooks can do more than steal your money or your personal information. They can infect your computer with harmful viruses and spyware that lets them control your machine.

Consumer Reports found that 38 percent of the households responding to its survey had a computer virus infection within the past two years.

"Our survey shows 17 percent of people are still not using anti-virus software, so you know that's a big part of it," said Jeff Fox with Consumer Reports. "And some people who have anti-virus software get a little brazen and think it's OK to click on an attachment or things maybe they otherwise shouldn't do."

The malicious software a hacker tries to get on your computer can damage it. Based on its survey, consumer reports estimates 850,000 households had to replace their computers due to a spyware infection in the last six months. The magazine's nationwide survey found that 33 percent of the households responding did not use software to block or remove spyware.

The editors say very few Mac users reported either a virus or spyware infection.

According to the report, virus infections did not go up from last year and spyware infections have dropped a bit -- two minor victories in the war against net criminals.

But the net remains a dangerous place and you need to be careful. You need to slow down and think before you give out any personal information. You also need think before you push that submit button. You need to have software tools that protect your computer.

And you need to be careful when you use public Wi-Fi connections, because you can't trust that connection. Consumer Reports' Jeff Fox says you should never access any password-protected site or account from a wireless connection at the airport, coffee shop or hotel lobby.

For More Information:
www.consumerreports.org

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