How to Stay Safe Online
Online safety is essential these days. Here are just some of the many ways that you can help yourself stay safe online.
Create Complex Passwords
There is a reason that some websites ask you to use uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols in your passwords. This is because the more complex it is, the more difficult it is for hackers to hack your account. Using passwords that contain information including your birth date or year can be hacked the most easily. The same goes for passwords that contain words. The best thing to do is make up a password that makes no real sense and use a password manager to help you store and create strong passwords. To make it even safer, try and not use the same password for everything. If a hacker gets access to one of your accounts, then it means they can hack them all.
Boost Your Network Security and Firewall
It’s important to ensure that your connections are secure. Ensuring you have internet security is incredibly important because this acts as a barricade to stop hackers from hacking your computer or online accounts. It will also warn you before going on sites that aren’t trusted and give you the power to block sites completely.
Click Smart
If you have good internet security, then you should be warned when you are going onto an untrusted site. Security providers such as MacAfee, provide people with warnings even before they go onto the sight. These warnings can be seen in the search results.
Be a Selective Sharer
Be cautious about who you share personal information with. A lot of dodgy sites can ask you to fill out your personal information and the fact of the matter is that you don’t know what this information is going to be used for. Your personal information can be sold and this can put your security at risk. It can also put you at risk of other people trying to get in contact with you via email or phone call, these people could be trying to scam you.
There has been a rapid increase in the number of people getting contacted by people claiming to be their bank or another company they trust asking for personal information such as bank details. Some people fall for this and send it over, only to get all of their money stolen out of their bank accounts.
Protect Your Mobile Life
Because smartphones these days are essentially mini computers, it’s more important than ever to protect your mobile as well as your laptop. Mobiles can be put at risk in ways such as downloading a risky app that can hack your phone and take all the information from it, this could include your pictures and any personal information you might have on it.
Dangerous links can also be sent via text message, again some claiming to be your bank. The most important thing you can do is only download trusted apps and don’t talk to anyone that you don’t know.
