The first question that I have for you, have ever thought of the internet in this way?

Let’s try this experiment.  In a moment I’ll ask you to close your eyes and picture in your mind the most dangerous place you’ve ever been, or what you picture a dangerous place to look like.  No doubt this will be different for everyone.

Maybe it’s the middle of a dark dense jungle with wild animals with big teeth roaming around and natives that may just want to eat you for lunch (yikes!)

Maybe it’s back in time and you’re in the Wild West and you’re being chased on horseback by Billy The Kid, the badest man to ever roam the west!

Or it could be at night in a strange city with crime and gang activity and you’re on their turf and don’t belong there!

Or somewhere in the middle of a war zone with machine guns firing and you don’t have any weapons to protect yourself!

You get the idea.  Now take just a moment and picture what this scary place is for you.  Got it, is it clear in your mind?  Can you feel the ground below your feet, can you smell the air, how do you feel, are you scared out of your wits?

Okay, let’s step back for a moment.  Now, more than likely you’re sitting in a comfortable place right now.  Maybe in a cozy coffee shop, or at home in your favorite office or easy chair. What would it take for you to physically get to that place that you just imagined?  Perhaps it would take a car, a train, a plane and travel over a thousand or so miles, or maybe you would even a time machine.

The point here is that you would have time to prepare mentally and physically that you would be entering such a “danger zone”.  Your thought process would change, you may carry weapons or wear some sort of armor.  You would be properly trained to survive such conditions.

But…did you ever think just for a moment that when you hit the little round button on your computer and connect to the internet while your sitting on your comfy sofa that you’ve just entered all of these areas at once!

Ahhh, now you’re starting to understand where I’m going.  The internet is very much like the Wild West, or a big city, a country in war time or a cozy easy chair all rolled into one. With the click of a mouse you can enter some of the most dangerous places and not even be prepared for it. The intent of this article is not to scare you from ever surfing the internet again, or to train you on the ins and outs of staying safe.  That would be too much to cover with one posting.  I do however want you to start thinking of the internet in a different light.  Pay closer attention to the websites that you’re visiting.  Be cautious about emails that you receive promising you something that’s too good to be true. Don’t just download any file from an email or a website thinking that you’ll be safe.

Over the next few weeks I will be posting more articles on internet safety, spyware, malware and identity protection. The internet is an excellent resource for information, products and networking but you must always remember that it does have a dark side and you must always be aware of this and stay protected.