Internet hackers strike inadequately protected computers.  
Even having a firewall may not be enough.  These unwelcome 
trespassers break into computers with the intent to disrupt, 
steal information, cause damage, and profit from these 
activities.  Data mining should be illegal everywhere.  
Those who leave unwanted advertising in the form of pop-ups 
and pop-unders aren’t much better.

A growing Internet security industry has resulted from the need 
to keep computers free of external junk.  Hacking gets more 
prevalent and vicious with each passing day.  Perhaps it’s 
happened to someone you know.   Well, it’s happened to me.  
When my computer was invaded by a multinational ISP – on I 
don’t use and never will use – I was horrified.  Then my e-mail 
account was hijacked.  After getting the feelings of anger and 
vulnerability under control, I filed a complaint with the 
Federal Trade Commission, and contacted my Congressman to 
see what could legally be done to stop the offenders.

The long and short of it is – not much.  In this case, the best 
offense is a strong defense.  Download a strong firewall, along 
with effective ad ware and spy ware deterrents.  Report all 
spam, and never ever respond to it.  That only encourages the 
spammers to send more.  After all, if it wasn’t profitable, 
they wouldn’t send it.

Since I write a lot of articles, I’ve found that using a service 
to distribute them seems to protect against excessive e-mail 
abuse.  I use the Phantom Writers (http://thephantomwriters.com).
While I do receive some spam, it isn’t much – perhaps eight or 
ten messages a day.  Some writers I know receive thousands of 
unwanted messages daily.

I can’t say that being hijacked was a good experience, but it 
did teach me a valuable lesson about securing my computer.  I’m 
now much more aware of what can and will happen if I don’t take 
the appropriate steps to block it.