AJ stands for Andrew Jackson, our 7th president. His reputation for toughness earned him the nickname "Old Hickory." A hero of the War of 1812, Jackson has appeared on the $20 bill since 1928.

What might you meet inside the jungle?

Going online is like visiting the jungle. You never know what creatures will show up next. What strange beasts might you meet when you explore the Internet?

Computer critters

A computer critter is a nasty program that causes trouble. Like a large near-sighted rhino, one of these critters can destroy parts or all of your computer.

Viruses

The first use of the term "virus" was in a sci-fi movie! "Westworld"

The first use of the term "computer virus" appears to be in the 1973 sci-fi movie, "Westworld."

Written and directed by Michael Crichton, "Westworld" stars Yul Brynner as a malfunctioning Western movie-style gunslinger robot.

The movie takes place in a futuristic amusement park where wealthy patrons vacation to role-play their fantasies.

Brynner's robot character is relentless, emotionless, and uncompromising. He's bent on the pursuit and destruction of his target.

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Viruses can get into your computer in various ways. They wipe out the information on our computers. Like an ostrich, a virus can lay an egg that hatches later.

Then, it reproduces itself and sends copies to other computers before it is found.

A virus might simply show a "Gotcha!" message. Or, it might change your screensaver.

How Viruses Invade Your Computer

• By e-mail and attached files that contain viruses
• By downloading infected software from the Internet and then running it on your computer
• By sharing infected CDs or USB drives

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Worms damage files and take up space on your hard drive.

Worms

A worm is a type of virus that moves between computers and looks for available storage space. It then reproduces to fill up the disk space and shut down the computer.

Worms can damage files as well as try to fill up space.

Worms generally come through an e-mail. If you accept and run a wormy program, it sends little wormy files out to everyone in your e-mail address book!

Trojan horses

Trojan horses are programs that look safe, but hide something bad inside—probably a worm or a virus. It could be in something you download, like a game or a picture, thinking it's safe. When you run it, the virus gets to work.

A Gift to the Trojans

To understand the type of virus called a Trojan horse, you need to know the Greek legend of the fall of Troy.

The city of Troy held out successfully for 10 years against a siege by the Greeks. The Greeks appeared to give up the siege, but left a huge wooden horse. This was supposed to be a gift to the Trojans.

However, the Greeks hid soldiers inside the wooden horse. The Trojans hauled the wooden horse inside the city walls. That night, the Greek solders snuck out and opened the city gates to the conquering Greek army.

The story shows how something that looks like a harmless gift can hide a secret source of disaster.

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A computer virus that is a Trojan horse is a program that looks harmless. Examples are free games or screensavers.

After you download the infected program and run it, the virus is released to do its damage. You may not even know which program was the source of the virus.

Sometimes they only annoy you, but usually a worm or virus will cause damage to your system or try to find personal information.

Spyware

What's the difference between spyware and viruses?

Another critter that may sneak in from the Internet jungle is spyware.

Spyware is sent to computers without the user's knowledge.

What Spyware Does

Spyware can:

• Log your keystrokes, such as websites visited, and send that information to its creator
• Make ads pop up on your computers screen

As more and more spyware creeps into your computer, you may find:

• Ads that are popping up even when you are not on the Internet
• Your home page has suddenly changed to another site
• Your web browser has added a toolbar

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Spyware tries to make money by selling ad space on your computer, or by studying your computer habits (without your consent).

Spyware gets on your computer as part of another program you've downloaded, but you don't know about its real purpose.

Your computer may begin to work very slowly. The spyware is mooching off of your computer speed.

Keep reading to find out what you can do to protect yourself online...

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