Highlighting the needy with Anthony Bernard.

Cybermen first appeared in 1996 on Dr Who, replacing Daleks as the Doctor's worst nightmare.

Daleks are remembered for their readiness to "exterminate", using a re-purposed toilet plunger as their primary ray gun! A special creative medal should be given to whomever invented this most scary of weapons, in children's minds, from what parents should recognise as a routine bathroom tool!

Cybernetics is the study of systems for control and communications according to a 1964 dictionary, but not even in the 1932 edition. Cyber has become the prefix for computer communications beyond our normal interactions - or are internet connections now normal? The real concern is that cyberspace has no national boundaries, bringing exposure to hidden worldwide risks along with the joy of internet face time with distant relatives.

The Cloud is a nice fuzzy friendly term for data being stored somewhere in the sky, but is actually very down to earth. If you are lucky, all your most private details may be kept in a hub nearby or in California, or if unlucky duplicated in China, Russia or North Korea! Data hubs use enormous amounts of energy to keep electrical circuits flowing, and even more for air conditioning to keep equipment cool. So the carbon footprint of the internet is quite large!

Schools, offices and large organisations have elaborate computer systems to maintain records for everyone and everything that goes on. These may also control air conditioning, password entry door locks and many other details. If the data is kept in remote hubs, which it probably is, then Cybermen will be watching. One slipped password and they have access that can create far more havoc than a Dalek with a toilet plunger!

Events hit the news, such as airports shut down because of computer malfunction, trains late or cancelled due to signaling problems, schools closed for a day or two after their systems are compromised and NHS and other records being accessed by criminal gangs. Some of these are just malfunctions, others are malicious access intending to cause harm.

Criminal gangs are working round the clock seeking vulnerable people to scam, finding organisations worth blackmailing or arranging illegal migration or data theft. Authorities can often identify those responsible, but overseas culprits are beyond the reach of our laws.

Big computer companies work hard in the race to keep clients safe from hackers, quite apart from mistakes such as the Horizon software in the post office. Smart phones and computers connect the rest of us into this amazing and crazy world of cyberspace, so we are not just bystanders to these major challenges.

The lesson is to be very careful downloading software or "apps". A friend became curious about something on his computer, clicked a few options and then found he continually had pictures of nudes popping up! The answer, with old technology, was a "hard reboot"; achieved by holding down the "start" button for about ten seconds. When restarted, the computer remembered what it should, but lost the unwanted links.

"Spotlight" news told of someone who downloaded what they thought was a parking app, to find they had been scammed - in addition they were fined for not paying properly for parking!

Smart phones and lap-top computers are wonderful tools, but when connected to the internet they expose all of us to cyberspace, where Cybermen are lurking to catch personal details!