12 Simple Things To Help You Be More Secure Online
The online community is thriving, and hackers have also taken a seat at the table. The drastic increase in people working with computers has given rise to new, previously unimaginable threats like malware or credit card hacking.
How do you prevent hackers from accessing your personal information? You must know the right steps. Here are some tips to secure yourself:
1. Install An Antivirus Software
Most people don’t really have to monitor their antivirus software. It’s installed and set up so you can just let it run in the background, downloading updates if necessary without any input from you—but this isn’t always recommended because there are some cases where malware may get through an Antivirus utility! Antivirus protection from online threats has become essential as hackers have found new ways around traditional firewalls.
2. Use Unique Passwords Everywhere You Login
A single mistake with passwords can be the difference between hacking into your email account and getting a notch on the ol’ belt. But it’s not just hackers: even employees who have access to sensitive information for work might find themselves hacked if they reuse or weakly protected login credentials from one site like Netflix (or any other service). So how do you keep this stuff secure? The best way is by making sure each online account has its own password!
3. Using A VPN
When doing anything on the internet, always use a VPN. This will protect your private data from prying eyes and stop others on public WiFi networks from accessing what’s sent through their device without permission.
4. Explore the Security Tools You Install
Most people use their security tools, but do you know how? If not – explore them. The security tools that you install on your computer can help keep it safe. Some of these include a method for finding lost devices and even turning them off if needed, but did they actually work? To get the maximum protective power from these programs, we must explore their settings.
When installing a new antivirus tool, flip through all the settings to make sure they have PUA detection enabled. Some security suites don’t come with this feature by default, but if yours does, check and configure it on startup before any other apps are loaded onto your device!
5. Two-Factor Authentication
Two-factor authentication verifies the user’s identity using at least two different forms of authenticating: something you are (biometrics) or have along with what they know on hand. This can be a passcode from another device that has been synced with their current one via cloud storage services like Dropbox, etc. If these precautions aren’t used, anyone who learns either piece could control all associated accounts! Using a password alone is risky, as it leaves your account vulnerable.
6. Use Passwords Wherever Possible
Don’t be lazy; use a strong passcode even if you’re not required to do so! Biometric authentication is available on most smartphones and can provide an extra layer of security. You should also remember that your fingerprint or facial recognition system won’t work as well when trying to access data from other apps like Facebook because they often don’t share enough information between themselves (especially in terms of images).
7. Don’t open emails you don’t know.
Opening unknown messages could put your personal and online security at risk. This, in turn, will damage the network around it because of drive-by downloads that install malware without asking for consent from users or downloading files directly onto their hard drives instead of merely displaying them as attachments (which explains why these can also be dangerous).
8. Create different emails for the various types of accounts you have.
Use an app-specific email address to sign up with apps or sites that might be more susceptible to malware and spam. After testing them out and feeling confident in their security practices (or not), sign up with your primary inbox again; if they start sending spammy promotional messages this way too often—close it! If you want to sign up for apps that might have questionable security features, consider maintaining one email address dedicated exclusively for this.
9. Clear your browser’s cache
Be aware that your browser’s cache knows you better than anyone else. Saved cookies might point to private information like home address or family details; clearing this can protect you from hackers who would otherwise use these names for their own gain! To better protect yourself online (knowing full well where those sensitive files live on the hard drive), make sure to delete browser cache every once-in-a-bit time, so they don’t get reused by websites when needed again without being deleted first.
10. ‘Save Password’ – Turn it Off.
It may surprise you when you learn that your browser may already have a built-in password manager. When you install third-party software on the computer, it will often ask if they can access and copy all of those saved passwords from inside Google Chrome or Firefox. While this is happening–don’t worry! It’s just going through everyone, so when we log back into our account later down the line, everything should still work as before with no problems whatsoever. But now, imagine what would happen if these programs were malicious instead? Hackers could steal any personal info stored there, like bank account numbers, and take control of your devices.
11. Social Media Privacy
Data privacy and freedom are important in the new digital age. Facebook wants you to know that it will never sell your data, whereas Google does under some circumstances (they can access information such as search queries). You can download your Facebook data and you’ll be surprised at how much has been shared without consent or knowledge!
12. Protect Yourself From Phishing scams
To stay safe online, make sure that any links in emails or text messages come from a source you trust – and even then, be cautious of their authenticity! Don’t click on suspicious websites and social media posts alike; if something seems off-kilter compared with your friend’s profile style (e.g., an account looking like it was hacked), consider this too much of a risk before proceeding anyway.
Conclusion:
Now you know that the best way to stay safe is to download software updates and security patches, update your antivirus/malware definitions, use a password manager with two-factor authentication, and back up everything you don’t want to be lost in the event of an attack or theft. Always be careful when clicking on links!