Computer Dating: Safety First

Computer Dating: Safety First

Author: Owen Jones

Online dating can really be great fun, but you must not neglect your personal protection when you are trying to find a mate. There are a couple of special precautions because we are talking about online dating, but it is basically just common sense. Just use your common sense as you would if you were dating normally off line and not much can go wrong. The minimum safety measures you should take, cover the areas of protecting yourself and your equipment, ie your computer hardware and protecting yourself both physically and mentally.

Protecting Your Computer Hardware:

As a common rule, when you go off into cyberspace and the Internet, you must take certain minimum steps to look after your computer equipment and system devices. It is almost certainly less likely that you will meet someone focused on attacking your computer and causing it injury on a dating site but you never know. The reverse can be said of chat rooms, some nutters do go in there looking to wreak havoc on people's computers.

Therefore, you need to have a minimum of a decent firewall to shield your computer from malicious invasion and anti-virus protection for your email to prevent people sending you viruses either on purpose or accidentally. These pieces of software will also shield your computer when you search (for) websites and interact computer. These two bases can be covered free of charge, if you need them for non-commercial use or you may want to strengthen your defenses by upgrading for a small fee. A free firewall can be got from ZoneAlarm and free anti-virus (AV) software from AVG.

These two companies are not the only ones offering free solutions and you should search your favourite search engine using the terms one by one. Pick one of each and install on default if you are not sure.

Protecting Yourself:

You must take care of yourself, too, primarily by choosing suitable dating sites. Seek out and select a reputable online dating service. This is easier done than you would think. You could begin by asking around your friends, neighbours, co-workers and others you may know who have tried computer dating, and see which places they recommend. However you may not want them to know what you are doing, in which case you should search for “online dating services� and keep a notebook of their URLs or website links, the fees, rules and conventions, the complete contact details of each and any other useful information you find important.

A good dating site will offer you safety tips about disclosing too much information and meeting contacts. If all else fails or you want a good place to start, try "dating.the-real-way.com". Then, you can contrast each website. Try only those sites where you feel safe and sidestep the others. But take care and protect yourself and your computer - with the correct tools and information!

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on several subjects, but is currently involved with the Woodworking Power Tools. If you would like to know more or check out great offers, please go to our website at http://woodworkingpowertools.org



Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1205993_39.html

About the Author: [Owen Jones has travelled extensively for many years and has various websites]

http://welsh-products-online.co.uk