How to stay safe online

digital-579553_640About a week ago I got a phone call from a friend who was really fuming and using inappropriate language because without her realization whilst browsing the internet her mobile phone company charged her $8 twice for clicking on a link. Then the other day whilst at work a friend was asking me how to get rid of a virus that was downloaded whilst she was browsing the internet which has started to slow down her computer.

If reminded me about a year ago when I wanted to download a program, instead of downloading the program, I had downloaded a virus that started eating my memory hard drive and I couldn’t even open

All this got me thinking, how we can stay safe online and this is what I want to share with you today, so we can all avoid these costly situations.

Here are 5 tips to stay safe online.

  1. Look for the “S”

Now we are not talking about Superman, but whenever you about to enter your personal data, to a website or shopping online, look for the “https” and a padlock icon to the left or right in your internet browser as this provides authentication of the website and associated web server that you are communicating with, which protects against man-in-the-middle attacks.  Also, protect yourself and use a credit card instead of a debit card while shopping online—a credit card company is more likely to reimburse you for fraudulent charges.

  1. Watch out for email scams

Spoof emails are very common, ranging from Nigerian princes asking for a short-term loan to proper-looking companies asking you for personal information. This is called phishing. If you get an email from someone like a bank, eBay or PayPal, saying there is a problem with your account, forward it to the company in question to get confirmation it’s from them, and DO NOT click on any of the links in the email. No companies will never ask you to tell them your password.

  1. Use a firewall, anti-virus software and anti-spyware software

You can use Windows’ own firewall, but I would not recommend it. I would use third-party, anti – virus software such as Norton or McAfee.

– A firewall will stop unauthorized people hacking on to your computer.
– Anti-virus software will guard your computer from viruses which could destroy your computer.
– Anti-spyware will look out for programmes such as keyloggers and trojans which spy on your computer use in an attempt to learn passwords or account details.

  1. Passwords

Do away with the “password123” and use an extremely uncrackable one like 9&4yiw2pyqx#. Phrases are good too. Regularly change passwords and don’t use the same passwords for critical accounts.

  1. Protect your info. Keep your guard up.Back up all of your data on your computer, smartphone and tablet in the event of loss, theft or a crash. Also, routinely check your various financial statements for questionable activity.

 

Remember you do not need to be a computer whiz, but the above tips will help you to keep safe. Please share your tips in the comments below.

Until Next Time. . . .

8 Comments

  • Edward Thorpe

    Reply Reply April 28, 2015

    Hi Tasleem,

    Sharp online safety advice without the ‘filler’…I like that!

    Good post.
    Thank you,
    Edward
    Edward Thorpe recently posted…3 Ways To Keep Your Mind & Reasoning Sharp: How You Can Promote Cognitive HealthMy Profile

    • tasleem khan

      Reply Reply May 1, 2015

      Thank you Edward, I do try and keep my posts short. And thank you for commenting.

  • Hollie Hawley

    Reply Reply April 29, 2015

    Good advice. It’s too easy for me to forget about security. A friend of mine once gave me a piece of advice about creating and remembering passwords. He said to think of a phrase that would be easy to remember and then use the initial from each word. So your phrase could be “What was my password again?” and your password would be the initial from each word, or “Wwmpa?” Keep the punctuation for sites that permit or require special characters. So it looks like a randomly generated password but you’ve got an easy way to remember it. I’ve used that trick ever since I learned it.
    Hollie Hawley recently posted…What To Do In An Earthquake – Part IIMy Profile

    • tasleem khan

      Reply Reply May 1, 2015

      Thank you for your comment Hollie, I never thought of that I will be using something like it for my next password 🙂

  • some great common sense tips here Tasleem
    Mike Gardner – The Time Doctor recently posted…How To Take Control And Reduce StressMy Profile

    • tasleem khan

      Reply Reply May 1, 2015

      Thank you for your comment Mike 🙂

  • Jan Kearney

    Reply Reply April 29, 2015

    Unfortunately, there’s a lot of scams and phishing around. Barely a day goes by when I don’t get emails at least. The favourite one at the moment is sending “invoice” attachments.

    I never click links in emails, always copy and paste. Hovering over the link will usually show you the actual destination if you are going to click.
    Jan Kearney recently posted…(Probably) The Best WordPress Social Media Plugin In The WorldMy Profile

    • tasleem khan

      Reply Reply May 1, 2015

      Thank you for your comment Jan, and sharing your hovering advice I didn’t think of that 🙂

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