The Internet has no universal security feature. Any posting can be retrieved or observed by any Internet user -- unless you secure it.

That's where SecureAgent Software comes in.

With SecureAgent programs like SecureNotes and DataSafe, you can insure that only authorized viewers will see your postings or messages. SecureNotes, for instance, encrypts your data so even if an unauthorized viewer intercepts a message, he will not be able to read it. Only you will have the key to decipher the message.

For more information, contact SecureAgent Software at www.secureagent.com or 1 888 746 7735.

The $85.4 billion deal is among the largest consolidations ever and expands AT&T's entry into American households. In addition to its traditional businesses of wired and wireless telephone service, AT&T now will offer satellite TV and Direct TV and be involved in producing television shows and films.

"We can deliver a very different experience for our customers," said Randall Stephenson, AT&T's chief executive. But it reduces consumer choices and raises "immediate flags", said U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D=Minn).

In addition to the communications benefits, the deal also makes AT&T a major provider of content, including many highly-rated offerings like "Game of Thrones."

A media agency, Zenith, estimates 71 percent of Internet consumption will be mobile this year and that figure will increase to 75 percent next year. By 2018 mobile will account for 60 percent of global Internet advertising, Zenith forecast.

The French company estimated global mobile advertising will be $71 billion this year, rising to $134 billion by 2018. It said that higher figure would be "more than will be spent on newspaper, magazine, cinema and outdoor advertising put together."

The outage hit Dyn, a New Hampshire based company which monitors and routes Internet traffic. But it rippled through the web, taking down many popular sites by overwhelming them with spurious traffic.

Dyn executives called it "a very smart attack" because it changed as Dyn took corrective actions to mitigate the attack.

The attackers used Miral, a readily-available malicious program.

What that means is don't put all your Internet and communications eggs in one basket. Have alternatives in place and switch to them quickly if one is disrupted by a message-flooding attack like those which hit major sites last week.

"Large companies need to constantly upgrade their flood defenses," said Kevin Curran, senior member with IEEE. He noted that defenses that worked a few years ago may now be useless because attackers constantly change their profiles to avoid detection.

Having redundant paths enables a company to quickly switch to an alternate route if the primary one is overwhelmed by traffic.

Ryan Collins, 36, of Lancaster, Penn., pleaded guilty to "unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information." Authorities said she posed as an employee of Google or Apple to convince about 100 people to provide account credentials.

Authorities said he illegally obtained at least 50 iCloud and 72 gMail accounts, many belonging to celebrities and posted stolen photos on online forums.

Its voter registration effort has resulted in about 2 million new voter registrations, many of them from younger people. Now it's trying to help them know how to vote, by providing information on candidates and issues.

It is using a nonpartisan source for data on candidates and issues.

Unused programs and accounts can provide openings for intruders. It's like leaving a door open in your house or office. Somebody can come in without being detected and steal information or items.

Review your programs periodically to find any that are not being used regularly. Also check to make sure you have the latest version of every program -- automatic updates can help you keep up to date but review anyway to make sure nothing slipped through the cracks.

Some users do a daily scan, usually at the start of the work day, to detect any significant changes.

But it's a good idea to watch Internet accounts and forums to see if you missed something. Even a small system can get dozens of updates and notices -- and you can be sure potential intruders are monitoring those looking for openings.

It's also wise to keep financial matters in a separate account from regular postings and messages.

And always be alert and question any unusual notice or event.