Security experts know that home users are the most vulnerable to viruses. In fact, many home users are teenagers. They often have the best computer (for games), and spend the most time on the Web. And while the news media and parents have done a decent job of warning teenagers of the risks of strangers in public chat rooms, they've done virtually nothing to teach teens other aspects of computer security.

Always Use Protection: A Teen's Guide to Safe Computing contains the most important things every teen needs to know about computer security. Not just the usual information about protecting teens online, but the equally important information on protecting computers from viruses and preventing identity theft (which teens surprisingly suffer from as well).

Daniel Appleman is the president of Desaware Inc., a developer of add-on products and components for Microsoft Visual Studio, including SpyWorks, StateCoder, and the NT Service Toolkit for .NET languages and VB6. He is a cofounder of Apress, a publishing company specializing in high-quality professional level books for computer programmers and IT professionals. He is the author of numerous books, including Moving to VB .NET: Strategies, Concepts and Code, How Computer Programming Works, and Dan Appleman's Visual Basic Programmer's Guide to the Win32 API, and he is the author of a series of eBooks on .NET-related topics.

* Appleman is a well-known, bestselling author of computing titles; has a great writing style and has valuable input/review on content from a teen focus group of technology users.

* Contains the fundamentals that every teen should know: emphasizes protection of computers from viruses, and privacy issues (including identity theft), not just the usual online security that is hyped by the media. Emphasizes topics of interest to teens - for example: security on instant messaging and configuring firewalls for online gaming.

* Unlike other security books written for parents, this book is written to empower teens to protect themselves and their computers. It requires no effort on the part of parents beyond buying the book and handing it to their teens.

* Offers practical, well-researched much needed advice on how to protect teens and create a more secure home computing environment. (The author's survey showed over 50% of teens have had a computer virus. A recent Newsweek article describes how Oberlin college found viruses on 90% of the Windows machines of incoming freshmen).

1. Gremlins in Your Machine
2. When Software Attacks: All About Viruses
3. From Sneaks to Slammers: How Viruses Get on Your System
4. The Built-in Doctor: Antivirus Programs
5. Guardians at the Gate: Firewalls
6. Locking Up, Part 1: Software Updates
7. Locking Up, Part 2: System and Application Configuration
8. Backups: The Most Important Thing You'll Probably Never Do
9. What to Do When You've Been Hit
10. When They Think It's You, But It Isn't: Identity Theft
11. Passwords: Your Key to the Internet
12. The Traces You Leave Behind: What Your Machine Says About You
13. Every Move You Make, They'll Be Watching You
14. Chat Rooms, Public and Private
15. Scams