The growth of the internet has brought to businesses and individuals all over the world countless benefits. But it has also given rise to a novel and unforeseen concern, and one which can be time-consuming and frequently expensive to address - online security. The vulnerability of sensitive data and the protection of physical systems from harm are very pressing issues which simply must be addressed. There really is no alternative to prioritising online security and ensuring that systems have the most up-to-date protection in order to successfully combat attempts to infringe your security.

Threats to your security can be grouped into a wide range of categories, with a near-limitless variety of individual risks within each. Nothing offers a more straightforward and direct route for would-be attackers to compromise your system than email; after all, using email is a positive act. We want to communicate, to share, to learn, we want to use the directness and immediacy of emailing friends, family, businesses, games providers - we're human, we like to communicate, and we like to see others wanting to communicate with us. In this most natural urge, we become vulnerable to those who would gain from abusing our trust.

Such abuses can come in a number of forms. These offer attackers the means, if they're not stopped, to have a range of different impacts on an individual or organisation. The motivation for each form of attack, and the intended results, are distinct to each, and they have to be dealt with individually.

-Viruses have long since entered into mainstream language, often referring (inaccurately) to any form of malicious code that can be transmitted from one computer to another. In fact viruses are specifically a small program (which may or may not cause harm) that can automatically copy itself onto other systems. They are activated by running a legitimate application that they've been attached to.

-Worms are similar to viruses, but do not require another application to run, and are always harmful, usually either damaging files or using up bandwidth.

-Trojan Horses (or simply 'trojans') are an increasingly serious concern for businesses and individuals. Whereas worms and viruses can do no more than physically damage a computer or network (and will often do rather less), trojans pose a direct threat to your confidential information. They covertly install software that allows the hacker to access the target system remotely, and can perform a range of operations, either without the user's knowledge, or with the user unable to stop it. They can operate the computer directly, as if they were sitting in front of it; they can steal, modify or delete information; they can watch what the user is doing; or they can log keystrokes in order to identify passwords.

-Phishing, which does not operate through malicious code but an attempt to take advantage of people's trust and desire for something better. Everyone will probably be familiar with the most visible form of phishing - spam emails that request personal details on a promise of financial, romantic or spiritual fulfilment. But emails can also be sent that pretend to be from a genuine organisation - such as a bank or well-known online retailer - or contain links to what appear to be legitimate websites, in the hope of tricking the user into entering details in the belief that they're only communicating them to a reputable business.

It would be impossible for even the most keen-eyed expert to spot all attacks before they happen; these things are designed to be secretive. So it's worthwhile having software to hand that can help you keep your systems and information secure. Antivirus software and a firewall are vital, of course - but when you download an email that you've been sent, you are effectively opening a door in the firewall to let it through. The firewall can only prevent interference with your system from outside, not from an email attachment you have brought to the computer yourself. You need to be in control of the security of your email, and Microsoft Outlook can help you greatly with this.

The first three of the four attacks listed above are distributed via email attachments. Outlook has tools which can ensure that common file types that can be used to spread viruses are blocked so you won't receive the attachment at all; for cases where the malicious code might not yet be recognised (and this is an issue which evolves on a daily basis), Outlook will warn you about attachments that could pose a potential risk, and help prevent any accidental activation.

Phishing is also addressed by Outlook; this is particularly an issue for email applications, as it is beyond the reach of antivirus and firewall software, relying as it does on manipulating people rather than code. Anti-phishing measures include a filter to keep mail that appears to be malicious or spam away from your inbox, automatic highlighting of details within a mail that create scope for phishing; and warnings about and disabling of links that would try to lead the user to a site involved in phishing. After all, these links won't advertise that they're phishing sites - they may appear genuine on the surface, but Outlook will help to protect you from such scams. Furthermore, Outlook also generates and accepts digital signatures - small pieces of data, invisible to the user, that are attached to an email to verify that it came from a trusted source. With digital signatures, you can help guarantee that mail only arrives from legitimate, honest sources.

Microsoft Outlook can go a long way to helping you ensure your (or your business's) confidential information and systems are protected, and a short training course might be useful to enable you to make the most of this. All that remains, then, is for individuals to protect themselves - and two simple rules always apply here: Only ever open attachments from a source that can be guaranteed to be trustworthy, and never open or reply to any email that appears suspicious or unsolicited. Online security works best with technology and people working in harmony.