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How Do I Protect Myself Online?

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6 Digital Safety Tips for Everyday People

This is a very timely question. As more and more of us turn to online shopping and working from home, we open ourselves up to hackers and other cyber scumbags to take advantage of our current situation. While there are dozens of ways to protect yourself, probably too many to remember, these are my top six preferred ways:

  1. Make sure you have a good firewall. Generally, the firewall controls what traffic is allowed to cross from one side to the other. This would include viruses and potential hacks. While not all firewalls are foolproof, it would be foolish to surf the net without one. To verify that your firewall is on, go to your settings icon and open up tools. Either click on the security icon or just type in the word ‘firewall’ and your computer will direct you to that section. Just make sure that you have turned all firewall safety sections ‘on’.
  2. Whenever you are entering sensitive information (i.e., social security number, credit card information, etc.) make sure that there is a lock icon or an https:// on the command line. These are two indicators that the system is secure.
  3. Change your passwords periodically. As a rule of thumb, you should change your passwords if: A) your password was used on a public computer (hotel, library, school, etc.). B) your account was subject to an unauthorized log-in. C) annually. D) you have broken up with someone or changed your relationship status with a friend or co-worker.
  4. Discriminate on the emails that you open. If you don’t recognize the sender, delete it. There is no law in the world that requires you to open an unsolicited email. It is not uncommon to have more than one email address. One for close friends and family and one for the stuff that you don’t take too seriously such as frequent shopper cards, promotional giveaways, potential sales companies.
  5. Turn off your camera and microphone when not in use. While it takes quite a bit of sophistication and computer skills to turn your computer on remotely, it doesn’t take nearly as many skills to access the computer’s camera, especially if you haven’t turned on your firewall.
  6. Be aware of the sites that you are visiting. Many adult sites attach cookies to your computer that not only track your “visit”, but also can open your computer up to a host of other adults sites that start an avalanche of adult content advertisements. One of the ways to combat cookies is to go to your browser security and manage which sites are allowed to store cookies on your computer and to block the ones that aren’t. Also, it may be a good practice to delete your web browsing history after you’re done with your computer for the day.
The post How Do I Protect Myself Online? first appeared on Private Investigator and Surveillance | Michael Guadagno & Associates.

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