Ways to Stay Safe Online
Bruce Taylor recommends the following tips to our readers to keep you safe online:
-
Keep your computers and mobile devices up to date. Always install updates to all your software as soon as you can, even if you don’t use it very often.
-
Set strong passwords.A strong password is at least eight characters in length and includes a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. Try to make each password unique you don’t want to have one password stollen, let alone all of them.
- Watch out for phishing scams.Phishing scams use fraudulent emails and websites to trick users into disclosing private account or login information. Do not click on links or open any attachments or pop-up screens, if in doubt close the program or restart the computer.
-
Keep personal information personal.Hackers can use social media profiles to figure out your passwords and answer those security questions in the password reset tools. Lock down your privacy settings and avoid posting things like birthdays, addresses, mother’s maiden name, etc. Be wary of requests to connect from people you do not know and do not fill out quizzes that might reveal or give away maiden names, or middle names or other personal info, this is the latest way hackers are harvesting information.
-
Secure your internet connection.Always protect your home wireless network with a password. It’s law in France that your wifi must have a password. When connecting to public Wi-Fi networks, be cautious about what information you are sending over it or use a safe VPN service.
-
Shop safely.Before shopping online, make sure the website uses secure technology, verify that the web address begins with https. Also, check to see if a tiny, locked padlock symbol appears on the page.
-
Do not use social media login to sites, many site offer you to use a Facebook login instead of your email address and personal password. You do not want social media knowing what you are doing online or to be sharing your login with a 3rd party site.
- Read the site’s privacy policies.Though long and complex, privacy policies tell you how the site protects the personal information it collects. If you don’t see or understand a site’s privacy policy, consider doing business elsewhere. Under GDPR regulations they should have a policy if they are collecting any information.
- Do not let friends and family use your account on the computer, log out of your account and let them login to a guest or limited account if they want to check their email or book a flight etc… Its very easy to add a limited account and that way they cannot change or lose any of your information.