As if we didn't have enough to worry about these days, a lot of computer experts are increasingly concerned about something called clickjacking.

Cute name, but a sinister and terrible problem.

You'll be hearing a lot about this, if the problem becomes as widespread as feared, though it sounds like security researchers are working hard to quash this.

When you live in a big city, you learn pretty quickly if there are certain neighborhoods that are infamous for its crime. If you don't want your car stolen, if you don't want to be mugged, if you don't want to unnecessarily risk your life, you avoid going there.

Same thing goes for going into unfamiliar neighborhoods on the Internet, and happily, McAfee Inc., the antivirus software, has released a report that alerts the public where the safe web sites are, and where the not-so safe web sites are. These not-so safe web sites are the ones that are loaded with malware, where suddenly after a visit you have pop-up ads all over the place, or the site will steal your email address in order to use it to send spam.

Have you ever been surfing the internet, when suddenly a box pops up, suggesting your computer might be infected with a virus and you should "click here to protect your computer"?

The absolute worst thing you can do is click there. At best, these are shady advertising tactics that mislead consumers and scare them into buying software or services they may not even need. At worst, they're the product of malicious criminals who want to infect your computer with a Trojan horse and corrupt your data and/or spy on you.

These Trojan horses are often set up to log your keystrokes (keep track of everything you're typing) so that the criminals can steal your logins and passwords. With so much online banking and online bill paying, you can imagine what might happen if someone had access to all your passwords. Consider your bank account emptied, and credit cards maxed out.

So what do you do if one of these mysterious boxes pops up? Whatever you do, don't click on the box. Try to close it, and make sure that nothing is being installed on your computer. When in doubt, shut off your internet connection until you can close out the box and restart your computer if necessary. Install popup blocking software and a firewall (legitimate stuff) that will help protect your computer in the future.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

Experts say that there were a record number of data security breaches in 2007, and the problem is only expected to get worse in the coming year. It's estimated that between 79 million and 162 million consumer records were compromised during 2007. Professional hackers and teenagers with too much time on their hands have easily stayed ahead of the game... cracking security measures faster than they can be created and implemented by security experts.

This means consumers are more at-risk than ever of having their personal data stolen. You can be as careful as you want with your Social Security number and your credit card numbers, but lax security at a business can still compromise you. Imagine if a hacker broke into your file at your credit card company. He has immediate access to all sorts of private data, including your mother's maiden name, your credit card number, your pin number, and much more.

Security experts say part of the problem is that companies are being too reactive in their security measures. Instead of staying a few steps ahead of the criminals who are trying to break into computer systems, companies are busy putting out fires and reacting to security problems.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.