Over the years, internet has had a huge impact on the lives of human beings, and the affect seems to only increase in the future. But similar to every other great invention, there are mischievous minds engaged to ruin the pleasure of using the internet.
As the number of internet users increase, so does the number of cyber criminals. Cyber safety is one of the major concerns of individual internet users, and of large organizations throughout the world. Let us discuss the major internet safety rules to stay safe online.
How do you protect yourself online? Let us know.
Antivirus Programs
Antivirus programs are used to safeguard against computer viruses, spyware, adware etc. A computer virus is a computer program which can spread from one computer to another by replicating itself. Virus can also be spread through digital media. One should therefore first scan all the foreign digital media using good antivirus programs, before using them. It is therefore important that computers contain the latest, most updated antivirus programs which could detect and disable/remove viruses and other similar threats belonging to the virus family.
[Read also: How Effective Are Antivirus Programs?]
Password Safety
It is important that users create strong passwords, which are complex and difficult to guess. Following tips should be remembered for passwords:
- Passwords should not be shared with anyone.
- Passwords should be changed on a regular basis.
- For different online accounts, different password should be chosen, so that if at some point in time, one account gets hacked, the other accounts remain safe.
- Password security questions should be chosen with care, to make sure that no one else knows the answers to those questions.
- Care should be taken about publishing ones private information on public websites or social networking websites, so that none of this information qualifies as answers to password security questions.
Phishing and Spam Emails
Millions of internet users receive loads of phishing or spam emails daily. You should make sure you don’t fall for these phishing scams. These emails are intended to steal users’ identity credentials especially for financial accounts, by pretending to be a legitimate source asking for the information. It is of utmost importance that such emails are completely ignored and important information like bank account details, login id and passwords are not shared with anyone no matter how legitimate source they may try to appear.
Software Downloads
One must be careful about the software that they download and install on their computer systems. The software must be downloaded only from a trusted source and website. Beware of malicious websites. Also, the software must have a valid digital certificate associated with them. Software installed from untrustworthy sources may install virus on the computers, and may pose a risk to the entire health of the computer system.
Threats from Social Networking Websites
Many people use social networking websites to stay connected to their near and dear ones. But the use of such websites has not remained limited to connecting to friends only. People should adopt absolute caution in being friends with unknown people, who may be cyber criminals. Befriending with unknown people, makes ones private information available to them; which can be harmful. So be careful when using social networking sites.
Educate Your Children
The ability of the internet to facilitate socializing and interactions with others online should be used with utmost care. Online predators also use the same media to target unsuspecting kids and teens. Parents should make sure that they explain these threats to their children and ensure their internet safety.
It may at times happen that even after taking various steps to stay safe online, one may fall prey to the activities of cyber criminals. This usually happens as the cyber criminals always keep devising new ways to fulfill their intentions; while most of the people remain unaware of them. Therefore, the most important key to stay safe online is to be aware! Keep your mind and eyes open to any unusual activity. Stay Safe- Stay Aware.
The above are safety tips to stay safe online. Did I miss out anything? Let us know in the comments.
I think another point to stay safe is to stay updated 😉
Sometimes, attacker can be very creative where you might need different strategy to counter them. It is best to always read security news or at least read their headlines. Of course the above points are sufficient to be safe as there is no such thing such as 100% secure, isn’t it? 😉
I agree with you Alan, we must always be alert and stay updated.
Good article for keeping you safe online. I agree with Alan, above. Keeping uptodate with the latest updates, be it windows, mac or linux is important as well. Its so much easier for a hacker/scammer to get into your computer if you are not uptodate, no matter if you AV etc is uptodate or not!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Jonathan.
I can’t image using a internet connected computer without anti-virus software anymore. You really need to be alert and informed about what to watch for. I still get plenty of phishing emails. It seems like they come in waves. One week I get quite a few, and the next nothing. Just when I start to forget about them…boom they come right back.
Yeah I know what you mean Ray, these phishing emails just keep coming and coming.
Thanks a lot for the great tips. I am sure that many would like to stay safe when they are online. because there are many hackers out there who will really annoy us and can even destroy our accounts. I really appreciate this and i find it useful and helpful at the same time.
You’re always welcome Liane and thanks for the comment.
I hope you will be sending us more of your interesting blogs Peter. You really are good when it comes to this that is why I often visit your site for new and updated blogs. Keep up the good work Peter.
Hi Peter,
You really mentioned great points there. Antivirus is really helpful in terms of viruses and being safe in surfing the web but i guess it still falls down to the user on how he or she uses her computer.
Thanks Veronica.
Those annoying spam emails are really getting on my nerves. I get loads of them everyday. Hope there is a way to filter them out. Some spam emails even bring out malwares in them. Anyway, thanks for sharing those wonderful tips, Peter.
You’re not alone Bhing. Believe me, I got tons of spam emails each and everyday. Unfortunately spams are impossible to get rid of 100% but could be greatly reduced by being more alert and stay cautious using your email. Appreciate you stopping by Bhing 🙂
1 more addition to your list, a Firewall ! 🙂
Yes! Firewall.., can be compared as a good lock to prevent breaks in. Thanks Zainil 🙂
Great tips! Not just keep your anti-virus and firewall updated but keep every software you run updated, especially windows. many times small updates for all different kinds of software come out to fix holes in the security that have been figured out. A lot of people don’t update because….I have no clue why. But really if the computer tells you there is a newer version, as long as it’s a tested stable version, get it.
Danny,
Most people don’t update because they’re busying updating their social media accounts or watching that interesting youtube video and the update would have slow these down… Nahhh ! Just kidding…:) I think most people don’t go for the update is because lack of proper education on the importance of updating software especially antivirus software. Yeah that should be the reason… I think… 🙂
It’s all of that. haha You are right.
They are busy with updating their social status because they don’t realize how important it is to update their software, it’s just an annoying pop-up.
My dad actually stopped updating his anti-virus because he had a free anti-virus, and when he updated it, it forced him to get the paid version (or he thought it did). So after that for a long time he thought “If I don’t update it, they can’t force me to get the paid version”. Luckily I was able to change his mind before he got hacked or infected, as he runs his business from that computer.
Online shopping is very popular today and these are great information on how to stay safe when shopping online. One thing I usually do is to shop in reputable company websites only.
Websites own by reputable companies are usually trustable. Thanks for the comment Cass.
Yes, all of these tips seem worthwhile. Especially important to not even be tempted to “click” on an email that could be a phishing attempt, etc., and certainly do not click on images inside emails. If you feel you may be tempted, set your settings so that only Text is shown in your mail.
As to children, it is so important to instruct them early, as to internet etiquette, rules & safety.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Jan. Hope to see you around.
The most important suggestion you have, by far, is educating your children. We can only take them so far and then it’s up to them to make safe decisions. But we can give them the information they need to make those decisions before we allow them to try it for themselves. It’s never too early to educate your children about the real dangers in the world.