How To Stay Safe Online
We can greatly reduce our exposure to threats by follows this steps
How To Stay Safe Online
With the rapid global technological expansion, it has indeed been a thing of worry for us to be able to stay safe within the global cyberspace. Failure to adhere to certain safety tips and procedures could lead to an unrecoverable amount of data, finances as well as the loss of lives in some rear cases. Both corporate and individual need to put in place certain security and safety measures when surfing the world wide web and as such, I would love to use this medium to bring to your notice certain tips and strategies that could help secure your cyberspace from data losses as well as more harmful attacks from the bad guys (Black hackers) in general.
1.Bulletproof your password
I know you are wondering if it is indeed possible for you to have a bulletproof password that cannot be cracked or guessed. My answer is YES. In other to achieve this, ensure your selected password has a combination of both capital letters, small letters, numbers, special symbols and should be a minimum of 15 characters in total for the entire combination. The mistakes most people do is having to use their birthday, pets name, kids name, vacation spots and things or words that they use frequently as their password and as such not giving the bad guys (Black hackers) a hard time to brute force the would-be password.
Also, ensure you do not write down this password on any readable file, notebook or save it on your phone. As much as possible try to memorize it and ensure not to share it with others. Once every three months, learn to modify these passwords in other for you to continually be safe online.
2. Upgrade your Network Security Infrastructure
By this I mean, you need to have your anti-virus activated on your device and it should be up to date as well as your firewall. Also, ensure your wifi routers are password protected in other to encrypt your files. When surfing the internet with a free open wifi connection, ensure you also make use of VPN (Virtual Private Network) and also pre-installed and active this VPN software when accessing the internet from a free open wifi connection.
3. Avoid Clicking Unidentified URL
Most times, we all get URL links (website Link) in our emails, social media messaging platforms among other ads pop up on our device when we are surfing the internet. In other to stay safe while surfing the world wide web we need to ensure that all links are thoroughly verified in other to ensure we are not clicking on malware, cookie stealers, virus, bot, form stealers, among other nefarious tools used by hackers to sniff out sensitive information from our unsecured network connections. In other to verify all URL links, you can simply copy and paste these links in a free online link scanning tool (www.virustotal.com) in other to scan the link for any malicious back door it might be giving to the hackers and crackers alike.
4. Click Smart. Now that you’ve put smart tech measures into place, make sure that you don’t invite danger with careless clicking. Many of today’s online threats are based on phishing or social engineering. This is when you are tricked into revealing personal or sensitive information for fraudulent purposes. Spam emails, phony “free” offers, click bait, online quizzes and more all use these tactics to entice you to click on dangerous links or give up your personal information. Always be wary of offers that sound too good to be true, or ask for too much information.
5. Be a Selective Sharer.
These days, there are a lot of opportunities to share our personal information online. Just be cautious about what you share, particularly when it comes to your identity information. This can potentially be used to impersonate you, or guess your passwords and logins.
6. Protect Your Mobile Life.
Our mobile devices can be just as vulnerable to online threats as our laptops. In fact, mobile devices face new risks, such as risky apps and dangerous links sent by text message. Be careful where you click, don’t respond to messages from strangers, and only download apps from official app stores after reading other users’ reviews first. Make sure that your security software is enabled on your mobile, just like your computers and other devices.
7. Practice Safe Surfing & Shopping.
When shopping online, or visiting websites for online banking or other sensitive transactions, always make sure that the site’s address starts with “https”, instead of just “http”, and has a padlock icon in the URL field. This indicates that the website is secure and uses encryption to scramble your data so it can’t be intercepted by others. Also, be on the lookout for websites that have misspellings or bad grammar in their addresses. They could be copycats of legitimate websites.
Keep all your software updated so you have the latest security patches. Turn on automatic updates so you don’t have to think about it, and make sure that your security software is set to run regular scans.
9. Lookout for the latest scams.
Online threats are evolving all the time, so make sure you know what to look out for. Currently, “ransomware” is on the rise. This is when a hacker threatens to lock you out of all of your files unless you agree to pay a ransom. Stay on top of this and other threats by staying informed.
10. Keep your guard up.
Always be cautious about what you do online, which sites you visit, and what you share. Use comprehensive security software, and make sure to backup your data on a regular basis in case something goes wrong. By taking preventative measures, you can save yourself from headaches later on.
