The more you use the internet without shielding your identity, the more vulnerable you become. It is frightening to learn that hackers know a lot of details about our online activities than most of us do. As you read this article, someone is busy somewhere keeping tabs of everything you do. Everything you do, and every website visited by you is being traced back to you. That is why you need to be on the safe side; mask your IP address, and enjoy some measure of safety and privacy. You either have your tracks covered, or risk losing the following vital information: personal identities; credit card details; classified files; bank account details; etc. These are just a few of the things you expose to online thieves when you fail to hide your IP address. To mask your IP address, please choose either of the following options:
Never heard of it....... I think that if you are cautious in your surfing practices and (maybe) use a proxy server if needed, you'll stay out of trouble for the most part.
I'm agreeing with Barney -- I do run Microsoft Security Essentials, WinPatrol & Spyware Blaster for 'real-time' protection & MalwareBytes for scanning.