Why has my internet connection started to send and receive data constantly, even when i've clos

I've run anti-virus and anti-spam software and all checks out ok... i've no idea who to or where from it's sending/receiving data but it's constant.

Why has my internet connection started to send and receive data constantly, even when i've closed IE?norton antivirus

if you have cable/dsl the modem constantly "talks" to your service provider.

also and 2 devices connected by an ethernet cable talk to eachother all the time, its usually called a ping.

Why has my internet connection started to send and receive data constantly, even when i've closed IE?security

yeah the router will constantly 'talk' to the internet (the DSLAM at your local exchange) to let it know that it is still there.
If it's not wireless then you'll have to phone up where you bought the internet from, try their help centre
I would not worry about it unless you are getting a noticeable slow down while browsing. There will always be pings and whatnot getting sent to your comp from either your router or the internet, its no big deal...

If you want to check your ping times for consistency just click Start-%26gt;Run then type in "cmd" and press enter, now type "ping www.google.com -t" (or any other reliable server) and that will continuously ping google and you can see the ping times in milliseconds. If they are all consistent and the same then no prob, but if they are all over the place and/or some time out, you have a problem.
Broadband runs 24/7 you can't close it down unless you turn off the computer. Even if you disconect the internet it automatically turns it'self back on again......
Do you have a wireless DSL or broadband internet connection?