Do you have a firewall / Router?
A firewall is software or hardware that protects the ports on which information travels in and out of your computer.
What it means is that without a firewall you are what's called "open to the internet". If a hacker wants to get into your computer THEY WILL. If you do internet banking or purchase product on your credit card, or use income tax software without a firewall, the chances of someone having that information other than you are very high. Identity theft is becoming a growing issue, and without a firewall, you will be hit. It is just a question of when, not if.
Software or Hardware?

Honestly it is up to you what you buy. We prefer to sell and maintain hardware firewalls. In essence they both do the same thing. However a hardware firewall is considered to be more stable. If your computer gets infected with a virus, the chances of the virus damaging your external hardware firewall are next to impossible. It is and external object the virus doesn't really look for it. Software firewalls are loaded as a program that works along with your computer. It puts load on your PC which can slow it down. It also can be corrupted by a virus because it is part of the computer environment.

Here's an easy example if someone needs you to explain it to them. A hardware firewall is like a big umbrella, it's easy to hold and no rain gets through, a software firewall is like holding up a bunch of those little tiki umbrella's you get in drinks. It's stops most of the rain, but it's a lot of work to hold all those things, and rain eventually will find a way through.