Safety when Surfing the internet – what is safe and what is not

 

Safety when Surfing the internet – what is safe and what is not

Using the internet and surfing the web can be as sweet as candy, but sometimes, as sweet as it is, it's very easy to type in personal info. Here are a few ways to stay safe during your online activities.
1.      Do not give out your full name, address, or phone number to anyone online that you do not know and have not actually met in person. They might not be who they claim to be.
2.      Never give out your bank account or credit card information unless you are shopping with a well-known or highly rated online business. Check for secure transaction info. You may see a gold lock at the bottom of the page to indicate a secure site. When giving any bank details or other information, make sure the connection is secure (https) and the site is perfectly trustworthy. Not every site which runs https or accepts payments is trustworthy.
3.      Never open e-mail attachments from strangers. Some junk e-mails may contain viruses or spyware that can harm your computer. These e-mails may be automatically marked as "spam" or "junk".
4.      Beware of spoof email claiming to be from eBay, PayPal, or a bank or a company name you know asking for personal or sensitive information. This is called phishing. The e-mail may inform you that there is a problem with your account/password. There may be a link to click inside. They are after your account signin to steel money from you.
5.      If you decide to meet someone in person from online, go to a public place and let friends and family know your plans. Have an alternate plan if things turn out badly.
6.      Get a good anti-virus program, spyware remover, and firewall. There are free programs available online, such as Norton from Symantec, avast antivirus, AVG Free, Microsoft Anti-Spyware and Webroot. They will block most attempts and alert you if problems are found.
7.      Change your passwords every month or so. Try not to use the same password more than once at a time. Also, make your password something original .A harder way to do it is by mixing up a jumble of letters and numbers, but be aware, it might be harder to memorize, so write in on a piece of paper. Make it exceptionally hard to guess, especially if it has your personal information.
8.      Check the URL Always make sure the site your using is really what you think it is before you enter your details or a password.  For example, if you want to log into Facebook you would check to make sure the site ENDS with (what-ever).facebook.com not ".facebook-videos.com" or anything like that.Usually when a site ends like that (very close to a popular website) it means that they want to try and get your password or get your personal details.
9.      Be careful with your details. Always be careful what you say on the internet, remember only say what you would be happy to say to some random person on the street. (This means on sites like twitter, facebook, bebo, myspace etc.) Don't say sentences like: I am going to a party at (Insert address/venue here) or My name is (Full name) stuff like that can get you into a whole lot of trouble with people you have never even met before.

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