my mum hasa wireless laptop and yesterday received an email from natwest asking her to renew account details,luckily she didnt and rang the bank who told her to delete msg.She has also had her credit card used.What measures could she take to prevent further problems.

OK, the issue here is not JUST wireless, it is her whole security and education with technolgy that needs addressing.

Firstly, she must have a full virus and malware protection system in place. It is not enough to simply put a virus checker and have done with it. The Windows firewall is OK, but there are others that are better (McAfee, OneCare, to name a couple). Again, it is not enough to simply put these on and forget them, they need constant and daily updating.

Next, she must have an anti-SPAM and anti-Phishing application installed on her system. The phenomenon you mentioned was a phishing e-mail which virtually everyone on e-mail gets at some point or another. A SpamSystem would have flagged this accordingly and you would not have had the problem.

Lastly is the use if her credit card by an unauthorised person(s). This can be through a number of methods - not least of which is the good old telephone. In today's society, you MUST buy a shredder and use it. Nothing with any address, name or personal information must be left in tact if you are throwing it out. Shred everything, cut up cards (and dispose of parts in different bins). On your PC, if you have a decent anti-malware suite you should be protected but ONLY if it is kept up to date. An out of date system is useless.

SHARK!

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For every positive action, there's an equal and opposite government plan.

Your question raises three points

1. how safe is a wireless connection? - Well that depends on whether you have turned the security on. Only a small number of people would be able to hack bank details even if the security was off. But you should make sure it is put on.

2. Email requesting login details - this sort of email is sent to almost everyone, unlikely it has anything to do with wireless

3. Card Security - Again, unlikely to be anything to do with wireless. Sometimes this just happens, but try changing your PIN number every now and then.

Hope that helps

MM

thanks for that,the points you raised are all covered as i'm proud to say she's very good with security on her computer and has all the required programs and has a shredder!I just wondered if the two incidents were connected and not knowing a great deal about wireless thought i'd ask,thanks for response.