Last week, Google issued a study on online malware. What it found was startling: 450,000 compromised Web pages. One visit to just one of these sites, and you've got nothing but trouble.

These sites use drive-by downloads. They don't need your help; they download automatically. If you go to one of these sites, you could be hit with a ton of malware. And the malware would be sent only after your system was examined by the site. So the programs downloaded would be customized to your computer's weaknesses.

Sounds scary, huh? Well, it is. But there's some hype in the news stories about the Google study. They're also written from a lofty perspective. So, it's hard to tell what the study means to individuals.

That's what I want to address this week. Given the growing dangers on the Internet, what can you do? But before we get into that, let's review the Google study.

Phishing is old hat

This new threat has developed because we've wised up to the crooks' old tricks. Phishing once was the trick of choice. You would be encouraged to sign in to your bank account. But the page on which you signed in was fraudulent. Your password went to the crooks, not your bank.