It doesn’t matter how much you use the web it is important to remember to always be on your guard. If we roll the clock back to a time before the internet we had to find out information the hard way. Researching in the library knocking on doors basically interacting with people. Due to the social interaction we all had a valued skill, self security. We could tell if a person didn’t seem quite as they should, we could detect a scam from a distance.
Now let’s roll the clock forward a bit, welcome the internet at first there was a slow up take in its use but as time moved on and search engines became more reliable it was easier to find information. With a click of your mouse or keyboard information was in front of you. Now before I go on this is not a bad thing I use the internet everyday but what happened next is alarming.
We became click happy, click it there, click on that it looks good, client code over there not sure if it’s relevant but it can’t be bad it on the internet! Just what happened to us we no longer question what we are looking at we just click. This is where the cyber criminals now enter how easy is it to trap a person in a scam who it not really paying attention. Would a user just click on a link or a picture without really questioning what they are doing? Answer yes and that’s where the criminal has left a nasty bit of code in the form of malware, a virus or even ransomeware.
This is where you hope for their basic concept of security and that they have an antivirus and firewall. However I have personally had to go and sort out a few machines where there was no security or definitions were so out of date it was truly worrying. Whilst taking care of the infected system I got to know the user and found out that they are aware of the big bad world and criminals but they never though browsing the internet would cause such a problem.
It was at this time I decided to explain some of the basics when it comes to internet security.
1st make sure you have a firewall or all-inclusive real-time scanning antivirus
2nd keep it up to date if. If it says it needs to update let it. If it doesn’t force it to at least once a week.
3rd As you browse keep an eye out on the bottom of your browser screen. As you hover over a link it identifies where it’s going to take you. The biggest thing to keep an eye out for is for the link to end .exe or .dll as these can download malicious software to your computer. Should you see anything. Like this and you’re not downloading a program don’t click on it.
4th Only download programs from trusted sources such as online stores like Microsoft, adobe, be careful of software sharing sites. Not only can the content be dangerous but also illegal.
5th Any link on a website can be dangerous so can images. Should you end up on a website full or random ads be careful how you move around the screen. If in doubt get out.
These are just 5 basic rules to keep you out of trouble but there are more skills you can adopt but they all come down to having sense and questioning your own actions before you click. So are you being safe online?