T

he Internet seems to have become an inte-

gral part of our lives in the blink of an eye,

and in a sense, that’s true. It’s been only about

20 years or so since its beginnings, and now

many people couldn’t live without it. We use it

to check news stories, watch movies, balance

bank accounts, buy any number of things, and

communicate with others.

If you realize that you can’t avoid using the

Internet, but you worry about some of the risks

it harbors, this book will help you understand

what’s going on out there, help you acquire

skills that can keep you safer, and show you

how to enjoy your online time with greater

peace of mind.

About This Book

This book is specifically written for mature

people like you, folks who are relatively new to

using a computer and want to discover how to

use the Internet safely. In writing this book,

we’ve tried to take into account the types of

activities that might interest a senior citizen

who’s either discovering computers for the first

time or discovering how to use them more

safely.

Foolish Assumptions

This book is organized by sets of sections and

tasks. These sections and tasks start from the

very beginning, assuming you know little

about computers and online safety, and they

Conventions used in this book

This book uses certain conventions to help you find your

way around, including the following:

➟When you have to type something in a text box, we

put it in boldtype. When you have to take action, such

as clicking a button or link, we put the name of the

item you have to act upon in boldtype. Whenever we

mention a Web site address, we put it in another font,

like this.

➟When we introduce a term that you might not be famil-

iar with, the term appears in italics, followed by a

plain-English definition of the term.

➟For menu commands, we use the ➪ symbol to sepa-

rate menu choices. For example, you might see this

instruction: Choose Tools➪Internet Options. The ➪

symbol is just our way of saying “Open the Tools menu

and then click Internet Options.”

➟Callouts for figures draw your attention to an action

you need to perform. In some cases, points of interest

in a figure might be identified. The text tells you what

to look for, the callout makes it easy to find.

Tip icons point out insights or helpful sugges-

tions related to tasks in the step list.

Warning icons indicate online behaviors that

might put you, your information, your loved

ones, or your pocket book in jeopardy.

➟

Introduction

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