Online safety tips that ensure your safety
Most people have their lives dependent on the Internet. There is no doubt that many people will be online for at least one session per day. For many people, they are always online at their workplaces, others will be online at school and university, others are social media freaks who tweet, on Facebook and other social media. Connectivity has greatly improved with the growing popularity of mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, iPads, and many more. Protecting your devices, information, and data when you’re online should be a priority and an ongoing effort to make sure attacks and malware are free.
Research indicates that a good number of people do not consider their safety when they are online and especially those who use mobile devices. For some, it is just ignorance and they place little or no importance on their online security. Lack of cyber security measures or efforts can be suicidal due to the complexity of threats found online and the amount of personal information and other sensitive data required for some of the online efforts.
Online safety requires personal effort and always being proactive. A number of things need to be done to ensure safety and they are a must. Here are some important tips to help ensure your safety online. With these tips, you can shop, browse, socialize, and conduct any other business online without fear of attacks and malware.
The first step is to take care of the basics by making sure that the operating system, as well as any other software used on the personal computer, is up to date. This is especially true for any security software installed on the computer. Updates, also called patches, are how various software developers and companies can address security issues found in their software. Updates are not hard work and can be configured automatically to make sure updates happen whenever they are available.
Pay more attention to what you do when you are online and the changes you make on various platforms that you frequently visit. Don’t be too happy to click on the links as most of these are from malicious websites whose aim is to steal your data or even money. Other links will infect you with malware directly. Make sure your privacy settings are set to protect you and that you have an antivirus and firewall installed for your safety.
Have strong and unique passwords for all online accounts from one strong password to reduce the chance of you falling victim to brute force attacks or hacking attacks. Each website or rather each account must have a unique password, preferably one with letters, numbers and symbols and no less than eight characters.
Never disable security to experience a smooth high-speed connection. This is a suicide move and common among players. Always stay protected and find ways to work with security software that still provides real-time protection. It is also recommended that you download software from legitimate websites and not from peer-to-peer sites to always be sure of your security.
Choose your connections and friends very wisely when you are online, especially on social networking sites. Accepting friends indiscriminately can have dire consequences. There may be friends you have talked to in a long time and even complete strangers and these may be social bots luring you into a trap to get hacked. Remember to take care of your security and this will even ensure the security of your networks as well.
Another point is that Wi-Fi hotspots have become a trap where people who connect to public networks get hacked and have their information stolen. It is important to verify that the network is legitimate and secure. It is very risky to connect to a random network. VPNs are a good option that can ensure that all your internet activity is routed through a secure and private network.
Staying proactive will definitely increase the chances of reducing the incidences of falling victim to online threats. Any calm will mean that you will be the victim of attacks.