• With high-speed and wireless Internet, our computers are often connected to the online world from the moment we log on to the moment we turn the machine off. Having a constant connection to the Internet is a convenience, but if not properly monitored, can also open up security issues that put your personal privacy and information at risk. You can download and install a number of tools that help to protect your computer and your privacy while you continue to enjoy your time on the Internet.
  
  

Privacy Guardian

• Privacy Guardian will scan your computer for traces of your past Internet activity and remove files that other people could use to track your history online. While you can use built-in tools in the Internet Web browsers to delete your cookies and history, these tools may not eliminate all forms of stored data. Privacy Guardian offers features such as deleting cookies, auto-completed form data, typed URLs and recent documents history. It can also clean up temporary files and remove files associated with other programs such as ICQ, iMesh or Kazaa. This program offers a free trial with some of the cleaning functions disabled. You can upgrade to the full program for a fee.
  
  

Hotspot Shield

• If you often use Wi-Fi hotspots to connect to the Internet, you are connecting to a shared and unsecured network each time. This may open up your laptop to a variety of privacy issues should the wrong person also connect to the same network that you are using. The Hotspot shield is a free VPN tool that allows you to safely connect to the Internet for your own private browsing in public hotspot locations. It will also allow you to connect to Internet services that have been blocked such as Twitter, Skype, Facebook or YouTube. The service has no bandwidth limit and does not collect any of your personal information during use.
  
  

KeyScrambler Personal

• The KeyScrambler Personal software is a free plug-in that encrypts your keystrokes to protect the information you type from keyloggers. A keylogger is a program that monitors and records everything you type. It can log your user name, passwords, email content, chat content and more. If you often use a public Wi-Fi hotspot for your Internet connection, you could be at risk should someone else on the network use a keylogger to record what you type. Downloading and installing KeyScrambler will automatically protect the information that you enter through the program’s encryption process.