The Internet is a great place to find things, get information, do research, and more. It's also a jungle out there with creepy-crawlies around every corner. With

viruses, spyware, malware, keyloggers, worms

and other such malware, having a computer without a robust security safety net in place is like hopping out of your car in a bad part of town waving $20 bills. This week Doc takes a look at three,

free security related products

that can protect you and test you level of protection.

Aside from educating yourself as to

what spyware is and isn't

and changing some browser settings to avoid some attacks, the

best spyware detection software

should be considered a must-have. Michael "Doctor File Finder" Callahan runs through a few of the

best spyware applications

to

keep your computer spyware and malware free

. Only install anti-spyware software from a trusted source; we've noticed a lot of spyware, malware and other crapware masquerading as anti-spyware software!

This week Michael "Doctor File Finder" Callahan takes a look a four

free anti-spyware programs

. On the Internet today

spyware

is much more of a threat than are viruses and worms. You can protect yourself from

spyware

and Doc shows you how to do it for free.

In the world of Internet security, there are the bad guys; the malware creators, the spyware makers, the hackers, spammers and so on. Fortunately for legitimate online users, there are also the good guys; the anti-virus makers, the anti-spyware makers and the people that patrol the Internet to keep it safe. Symantec is one such good guy and Sean Carruthers got the chance to see one of three of it's worldwide

Security Operations Centers

, working 24/7, 365 days a year to do the online detective work that keeps the Internet (and your personal information) safe.

Cheryl Poirier AKA Miss Download takes a look at Webroot Spy Sweeper, an anti-spywyare, anti-malware program for your Windows PC. With this program, you can keep your PC running clean and spyware free. Cheryl likes it so much, it's the spyware solution she uses on her home PC.

The threat of spyware is very real. STOPzilla is a product you can use to protect yourself from spyware. It monitors your network, stops pop-ups and gives you real-time protection.

What is spyware? It's software that's installed on your computer without your knowledge or consent. It can steal your personal information. It may gather information on you, your computer, your browsing habits and more. It can lead to identity theft and make your computer run slowly. If you're going to have a computer on the Internet, you need to understand what spyware is and protect yourself against it.

On the Internet today spyware has become even more of a threat than viruses. For this reason it's important to make sure you're always running Anti-spyware software on your computer. You can run a combination package that contains both anti-virus and Anti-spyware or you can run a separate program for each.

Andy and Sean show you how to tighten security on Windows XP and Vista PCs.

Michael "Doctor File Finder" Callahan runs through

the do's and don't of spyware

. In short, do

avoid spyware

and

don't get infected with spyware

. Obviously there's a lot more to it than that... Doc gives us some

best practices for avoiding spyware, malware and other junkware

, explains

how to get rid of spyware

and where on the Internet to avoid to not get your

computer infected with spyware

in the first place.

Michael "Doctor File Finder" Callahan takes a look at shining lights in the world of software. From the top five HTML editors to the five best image editors, the best anti-spyware, anti-virus and anti-malware programs, Doc has the prescription for what ails your PC or Mac.