Henry David Thoreau nailed this observation back in the 1800s, and we can only amplify the meaning of this statement in today’s ever-changing digital landscape. The tools we use today, while they are amazing, have the potential to enslave us as a society.

Times, they are a changing, for sure.

I spend a lot of time thinking. My wife calls it spacing out, but I prefer the term "thinking" for right now. I look back a lot; I reflect. I spend a lot of time reflecting about tech stuff and how it’s evolved into what it is today. In my 41 short years on this earth have seen some amazing innovations. I’ve seen the personal computer come into my home. I remember the day my dad brought home a dot matrix printer and the wonderful soothing noise it would make as it shed ink on that perforated paper. I remember typing lines of basic code into a computer console to display "HELLO" on a black and white gigantic CRT monitor. This “stuff” that’s been created is nothing shy of amazing, and it’s the little things in technology that really wow me. With the hard drive, CD-ROMs, wireless mice, smartphones that have more processing power than the first computers at NASA, it is truly an amazing time to be alive. It’s even more amazing how all of these gadgets and gizmos are interconnected and talking to each other. Enter the Internet.

The Internet has been an amazing contribution to society. It has enabled us to connect in ways that we never knew possible. It has allowed for the rapid dissemination of news and information. It has both brought us closer as people and pushed us further apart on an interpersonal level. The Internet has connected everything. Cars are now connected via Wi-Fi hotspots, your new refrigerator has the capability to sync with your Wi-Fi, you can control your home alarm system or even your air-conditioning by simply pushing a few buttons on your smartphone. With all of this connectivity in the home, in the workplace, in your car, in your doctor’s office, in your Facebook and Twitter feed, there are data. Rich, unfiltered, personal, revealing data. These data can be used for good, but, let’s be real, these data can also be used for evil. As amazing as the Internet is, it’s bred a whole new breed of crook: cyber criminals. They are lurking everywhere. From foreign countries to your local coffee shop, cyber crooks are stealing data and profiting from those data at an alarming rate.

Data equal gold. With a few keystrokes or the accidental installation of malware on your computer, you can give hackers access to your life. Your dreams, your vices, your finances, your secrets—hackers can get it all, and once they have it, your whole world can be corrupted. There are millions of e-mails sent each second that are designed to trick you into giving up your personal information. There are weak firewalls at your doctor’s office that a hacker can breach to steal your personal medical information and sell it on the various black markets found in the shadiest, darkest recesses of the Internet. There are exploits in the security certificates that you think are secure when you are purchasing your whatnots from your favorite online retailer. There are weak, hackable Wi-Fi connections at your favorite big-box retailer that a hacker, sitting in his Ford Fairmont in the parking lot, can access and then pull down thousands of credit card numbers through the air in minutes.

Again, data are gold, so how do you protect yours? How do you keep your personal credit from being destroyed or your medical records sold to Sally in Baltimore who uses your medical history and credit to get some enhancements done? How do you keep snooping social media platforms from listening in on your verbal conversations through your smartphone or search engines from taking all of your search data and building a profile on you?

For some folks, technology is downright scary and intimidating, and rightly so. I remember the first time my grandmother logged in to Facebook and the look of panic on her face as she clicked her first unsolicited pop-up ad. Grandma had become a master of the copper landline phone system, but she was now facing a whole new world. A world not connected by copper wires, but a world of millions of interconnected devices, all talking to each other. I remember my dad, as he would call me for countless tech trivia questions about installing and uninstalling Windows on his laptop. Technology can be your friend, but it can also be your worst enemy. Dan and Eric have crafted a sound, educational, and user-friendly road map to help keep your data safe and your tech devices protected. 10 Don’ts was written with a passion—a passion to inform and educate, a passion to help keep you safe in an ever-changing digital world. If you’re intimidated by your tech devices or are eternally worried about keeping your data safe and secure, this book is for you.

Remember, while the Internet has many downsides and a veritable host of creepers, it is also an amazing, rich, and powerful tool to help your mind grow, to help you connect with long-lost friends, to inspire you, to help you create amazing content, and, of course, to add countless photos of your cat. Use it wisely, maybe back off of the cat photos, but enjoy it safely and with common sense.

Tom Jelneck

President, On Target Web Solutions