Are YOU spreading spam?

PC World magazine reports spam is on the upswing compared to last year, thought to be mostly due to botnets, networks composed of broadband-connected PCs that, unknown to their owners, are used to send spam.
Yes, if you are one of those people who don't run your Windows update regularly, or don't have a firewall turned on, or routinely download pirated music from a P2P network, you could be contributing to the problem. It is estimated by some that 25% of all personal computers on the internet are compromised in some way that can be used in a DOS attack or to remotely send spam.
It is also being reported that cybercrime is now more lucrative then drug trafficking.
People, if you are on broadband, get a router. It serves as a hardware firewall. Don't click links in email. Don't download illegal music. You have no idea what is in that "music" file you are downloading.
Update to IE7 if you continue to use IE, or better yet, use Firefox. Use Thunderbird instead of Outlook.
And run Windows Update after the second Tuesday of every month for Pete's sake.