Steve Gibson is fairly well known as a fellow who knows quite a bit about computer security; he's developed a number of useful programs over the years and has a good reputation for knowing what he's talking about. My thought is that if he can be overcome by a DDOS (Distributed Denial Of Service) attack, then just about anyone is vulnerable. SeanM is right about the security flaws in MS software; this is in great part due to the complexity of programs such as Windows, Outlook Express, etc. And I'd also agree that AOL is not the best when it comes to security as they don't seem to respond very well when one of their customers has a problem. What can the average person do about this? Not a whole lot, really. If your're running Windows you should insure you're up-to-date with security updates and make the changes to bindings suggested on Steve Gibson's website. I like using local ISPs rather than big outfits like AOL because a local ISP is more likely to respond if you have a security problem. And do install anti-virus software and keep it up to date. As computers and software evolve I expect there will be improvements in security, but "hackers" will no doubt improve their routines, too. In the final analysis, the answer is to never keep any data you're concerned about on a machine that's connected to the internet or any other network.