Digital technology came as a savior to many online users. Access to information, paying bills, and all social interactions have been made easy with technology.
With all these benefits and advantages, your safety is paramount. Anything is possible when people lack physical attractions.
Web predators are ever there waiting for the next victim. With all these challenges, online safety is inevitable. Here are some of the things to do to stay safe while online
- Never talk to strangers
- Monitor your children while on the web
- Detect any form of flattery and block the person immediately
- Avoid suspicious links and emails
- In case you must meet someone you got online let it be in a public place
Just like you prepare all the machines like the air coolers to cover a wide area to enhance comfort, when hosting your guests, similarly, you also need to ensure you are safe and secure behind the keyboard.
What to do to stay safe online
1. Never hand in your professional and personal information
All a hacker needs are your personal information. With that, he has control over your social media and bank accounts.
You don’t want to know what he will do with them. There is nothing someone does with this information-the reason why it’s personal.
If you have to do it, probably for job purposes, do it at an individual level and not to the million users on the web.
2. Enable your privacy settings
The privacy settings aren’t there by default; when browsing from a public internet service provider, you have no control over what other people do at the back end of the connection.
Your only redeemer is your privacy settings that bar them from accessing crucial information remotely.
Internet experts advise frequent online users to use this tool as a safeguard measure. It gives you control over who sees your profile or can send posts or share anything on your timeline.
Some of the images and links are tricks hackers use to have control of your computer from a remote location.
3. Exercise safe browsing
Not all internet streets are safe for browsing. Some are no-go-zones. They lure you with exciting content that can’t pass your attention, that’s a trick.
Once you open it, you are susceptible to anything on the web. The traps are many; you may fail to notice even any of them.
That’s how the malware operates. They are similar to popular websites and also social networks you visit. Walkthrough web streets with care; a simple click can cost you a dime.
4. Go online when sure of the endpoint connection
In public internet service, you can’t be sure of the endpoint connection. That is the weak point on the web hackers capitalizing on accessing systems of even those you know are the most secure.
Therefore, individually, unless you are sure of the kind of web connectivity, go online to sites that don’t compromise on your safety.
Some have a backup system where your entire logins are accessible as much as you log out from the front end.
That answers the question of how hackers get access to your accounts.
5. Make a wise choice of your passwords
Passwords are like your ATM pin on the web platforms. Let them not be too obvious. The hacker can be the person sited next to you on the public cyber café.
A secure password must be invisible, contain different cases, includes numerical and symbols.
Get to a banking institution. Why do you think they are confident logging in the systems while seated on the customer seat?
They know they take pride in their security passwords.
6. Purchase from sites with surety of the connection
With shopping online, you can’t avoid giving out your banking or credit card details and personal information for verification.
Moreover, you also can’t prevent the process. The only way to guarantee your safety on the internet is to purchase from sites with an end to end encryption connection.
A website with Http: only lacks that feature. Either it should be https: or Http with a padlock sign in the address bar.
7. Internet never forgets
Safety extends to cyberbullying protection. People have committed suicide because of cyberbullying.
A simple post may become viral and expect millions of different thoughts about it, affecting your emotional state.
Some of the posts are permanent, before you type the words on the keyboard, think of the repercussions.
How will it affect you? How will your family view it? What if your future generation comes across it?
If it’s something your parents and employer aren’t proud of, and then keep it to yourself. Don’t share it online with millions of users.
8. Update your antivirus
Viruses are part of malware; initially, they came as file extensions; they were easily identified, but now they have been in the form of standard files.
Others are links not easily detectable as faulty. The only way of protection is an updated antivirus that monitors, detects, and quarantines the suspicious files and links until you verify their authenticity.
You can’t ignore using the internet because of fraudsters, hackers, and cyberbullies. The power is in your hands when it comes to safety.