By now you have probably heard about the impending April Fool's day worm that, according to CNN, threatens to "overwhelm and shut down Web sites, or monitor a person's keyboard strokes to collect private information like passwords or bank account information".

The thought of Y2K, however, is probably nothing more than a faded memory.

But there is a connection between the two would be cyber catastrophes...

For example, both Y2K and the AFD (April Fool's Day) worm have their believers and their detractors.

Just like Y2K before it, predictions are building around the potential global fallout from the AFD worm. And like Y2K, security experts are busy trying to figure out how to fix the AFD worm before its nefarious payload is triggered on April 1, 2009.

But that's where the connection between the AFD worm and Y2K ends...

In the lead up to Y2K, I worked in the data centers of some of the largest companies in the world (at that time), like the Toronto Stock Exchange, IBM and Nortel. I never believed for a moment that the threat of catastrophe from Y2K was simply hype. In fact, I was convinced these vital financial systems would not be fixed in time for the Y2K trigger point at 12:00:01 Jan. 1, 2000...

I was never so glad to be wrong in all my life. Society didn't crumble and I lived off my Y2K bunker supplies for years!

Where AFD is a fundamentally different than Y2K is that this time around, global security experts have no idea exactly what this malicious application does nor do they have any ideas on how to stop it.

So, by all means, prepare your computer with updates to your operating system and your antivirus programs, etc. but to be completely safe and secure requires a completely new paradigm:

Assume Your PC has Already Been Infected by the April Fools Worm

That's right – assume you're already infected (like at least 10 million other computers around the globe at the time of writing). Fortify your PC and your online activities accordingly. Secure your sensitive information BEFORE it even gets to your compromised PC.

How? Our president blogs about it here.

Don Power is Sales Manager for NetSecure Technologies and recommends the SmartSwipe for the utmost in credit card and identity theft protection when you're shopping online. Don invites you to comment on this post and to follow him on Twitter.