At present, the hacker black market is paying $100 per thousand hacked Australian computers. That's correct, there is a black market for hacked computers, and Australian computers are fetching top dollar, compared to other countries.

Why do you think that Australian computers are getting top dollar? It's because we're easy targets as most of us don't take computer security seriously enough, plus being an affluent country, the hackers can make better money from a hacked Aussie. You could argue the affluent part, depends on whether the banks get to your money before the hackers do.

You can secure your computer with all the modern, up-to-date security tools, but if you don't follow safe practices, you're very likely to get hacked or ripped off.

It's just like driving a new car, with all the latest safety features, air bags and intelligent breaking systems, if you drive dangerously, you're more likely to crash and get injured.

You need to use some common sense on the internet, and stay away from sites that are notorious for hacking visitors computers, pornography, software cracks, copy violated music sharing and movie sites etc.

File attachments of any sort, arriving in an email, messenger, or chat program, have the potential to be malicious.

Wake up! You're in an environment where parcel bombs are common, so you must X-ray them first, or refuse to accept any parcels. Do not open any suspicious attachments! Assume all attachments are dangerous! Download every file you think is safe, to a dedicated folder, and always scan it for viruses and spyware before opening.

Here is a list of most common attachment file types, which are very likely to be infected by viruses. If you get an attachment with the file name endings shown below, you have received a virus, delete it!

Example: filename.pif

.pif .bat .com .cmd .sys .scr .shs .exe .vxd .vbx. .vba .vbs .vhs .xla .lnk .cpl abc .zlo

The following file types below, can be sent as genuine attachments by friends, relatives, or business associates.

.txt .zip .doc .xls .gif .jpg .pdf .pps

This does not mean they're safe. These types of files can be infected by viruses, trojans and spyware. Any new file coming into your computer, of any type, should always be virus and spyware checked, with two anti-virus or anti-spyware tools that are up to date, before opening! Read my previous blogs on how to get your computer security up to scratch.

Friends', relatives' or business associates' virus-infected computers can send virus-infected emails to everyone in their email address book, without the owner having any knowledge they have been sent. Always ask the question, "Do I really need to open this attachment?" If you don't, always err on the safe side and delete it.

Virus creators will try every trick in the book to get you to open attachments.

Joke messages are an effective way to spread viruses, because friends forward them on.

Another way is to try to disguise viruses as common file types, .txt, .jpg or .gif files like: image.txt.bat; image.gif.vxd and image.jpg.bat

Love letters, or 'Bin Laden is dead' emails, are designed to suck you in. Open them, and the only love you will be getting is a kiss from the hacker.

Ebay, Paypal, banks and Microsoft do not send software fixes, or account ID and password changes as emails. These messages are sent by virus creators as a trick messages!

Web page links in email, messenger and chat programs are also dangerous, because if you click on the link, it can send you to a malicious web page. So always check the address before clicking on the link. You can do this by placing your cursor over the link. This will show the true destination in the status bar at the bottom of the open program window.

International Lotteries
*You can't win a lottery without purchasing a ticket!

*Lottery organisations do not ask for a handling fee!

*Lottery organisations do not need your bank account details!

*Beware of people who you don't know, who claim to have access to large sums of money in overseas bank accounts, who are willing to share it with you!

If you're after that large amount of money sitting in the foreign bank unclaimed, and you're told all you need to do is launder it through your bank account, to get a share, you will be ripped off.

How many times do Aussies need to be told this? If you have been entangled in one of these scams, and are receiving threatening emails or phone calls, realize this is part of the scammers tactics.

Stop all communications, and contact your local police immediately.