- Current section: Introduction
- Learning outcomes
- 1 What this unit is about
- 2 Viruses, worms and Trojans
- 3 How to protect yourself against viruses, worms and Trojans
- 4 Avoiding viruses, worms and Trojans
- 5 Firewalls
- 6 Hoaxes
- 7 Spam
- 8 How to protect yourself against spam
- 9 Adware and spyware
- 10 How to protect yourself against adware and spyware
- 11 Cookies
- 12 Other security issues
- 13 How do you protect children online?
- 14 Where to learn more
- Acknowledgements
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Living with the internet: Keeping it safe
Computer crashes are often the result of viruses, worms or Trojans as...
Computer crashes are often the result of viruses, worms or Trojans as unfortunately some internet users want to cause havoc or vandalise your computer. This unit provides a guide to the downsides of living with the Net. Advice on how to deal with these dangers is provided and security issues like spyware and adware are explained. The unit also deals with protecting children online, and provides links to various helpful websites which deal with the problems raised.
By the end of the unit you should be able to:
- distinguish between different kinds of malicious software (viruses, worms and trojans) and protect yourself against them;
- describe a range of security problems (spam, hoaxes, spyware and adware, homepage hijackers, diallers) and how to deal with them;
- explain the key principles of safety online;
- explain the key principles of keeping children safe online.
- Duration: 10 hours
- Published on: Wednesday 27th July 2011
- Level: Introductory
- Posted under: Information and Communication Technologies
Contents
Living with the internet: keeping it safe
Introduction

Computer crashes are often the result of viruses, worms or Trojans as unfortunately some internet users want to cause havoc or vandalise your computer. This unit provides a guide to the downsides of living with the Net. Advice on how to deal with these dangers is provided and security issues like spyware and adware are explained. The unit also deals with protecting children online, and provides links to various helpful websites which deal with the problems raised.
This unit is from our archive and is an adapted extract from Living with the net: using computing to enrich your life (T180) which is no longer taught by The Open University. If you want to study formally with us, you may wish to explore other courses we offer in this subject area [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .
Archive content
This is an extract from an Open University course which is no longer available to new students. If you found this interesting you could explore more free Information and Communication Technologies course units or view the range of currently available OU Information and Communication Technologies courses.
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- Creative-Commons: The Open University is proud to release this free course under a Creative Commons licence. However, any third-party materials featured within it are used with permission and are not ours to give away. These materials are not subject to the Creative Commons licence. See terms and conditions. Full details can be found in the Acknowledgements section.
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