Since the advent and wide-spread acceptance of "always on" broadband internet connections, online criminals are finding it easier than ever to gain access to sensitive and personal information.

In 2007, 61% of Britain was connected to the internet, that's around 15m homes. For the majority of those with broadband connections, their computer becomes connected to the internet as soon as it is turned on.

This has essentially made us very vulnerable to online hackers and fraudsters. Such people use a wide range of motives, methods and techniques to obtain our personal information (namely bank details, and other "secure" information)

It's important to note that the purpose of this article is not to make you fearful of the internet, but educate you on the methods that hackers use, so you can be more aware on how to protect your information.

Put simply, there are two ways in which hackers can attack your computer; these are discussed in more detail below.

Externally

This involves the attacker "probing" your computer, in the hopes of exposing any weaknesses in which they can gain access to your information.

Typical methods include; subnet scanning, port scanning, packet sniffing, e-mail eaves dropping, DOS attacks and "Phishing".

Internally

This method often involves users' unknowingly downloading malicious programs, sometimes referred to as "malware" to their computer systems. Malware often appears harmless software, and is usually transferred via email or downloaded from what appear legitimate sites.