HERE’S HOW TO STOP THEM SNARING YOU

M Change your passwords. Website ‘Have I Been Pwned’ shows services used in the past that may have been hacked – creating a need for new hardto-crack codes.

M Stop opening email attachments that you are unsure about – just press the delete button. Messages offering easy ways to make money should be binned without reading.

M Pay for security software. Basic software filters out well-known viruses, but paying a company such as Avira for extra protection – rather than using its free security – is money well spent. Consider other providers such as British security software firm Sophos.

M Invest in a hard drive back-up to ensure you don’t lose information as a result of being hacked. An external hard drive from Seagate will cost £45. Even better, if you invest £500 in a network access storage (NAS) box from Drobo, any information on your computer is automatically backed up via wi-fi on to one of a number of external hard drives.