There is no doubt that the internet has made our lives easier. Technological advances have changed the way we communicate and the way we do business. The way we manage our social and personal lives right now has nothing to do with what was happening a few years ago. However, because of this, the Internet can also threaten us with spam, identity theft, invasion of privacy, and cyber espionage.
TThis is why online security is critical in today’s interconnected world. It’s about time we focus on the positive side of digitized life and learn how to surf the Internet safely.
It’s no surprise that countless threats are trying to find new ways to compromise our devices where our personal information is stored. Most people would think that visiting a website is like reading a book, but there is a lot going on in the background that we are certainly not aware of. Data transferred between our devices and the website we visit passes through various other computers. For this reason, we are vulnerable to interception at any time.
At the moment, the most common threat is “phishing”: the type of information theft by deception. What happens is that they trick us into thinking that we are using the original, legitimate website, and then they somehow persuade or force us to give up our personal information.
A more widespread threat is malware infection. Websites can host all kinds of nasty viruses, Trojans, spyware, and adware. Some even without the site owner’s knowledge, as malware creators have become very good at injecting their creations into legitimate web pages.
So what can you do to browse the Internet safely?
#1 Be careful with the files you download
Be careful not to download applications or attachments from “suspicious” websites and sources. Such actions can be the source of virus or malware infection. For this reason, we should only download apps from trusted sources. Also, it is important to scan files for viruses before clicking on them. In case we are tricked into downloading an unsafe file, we should cancel the process as soon as possible in the download toolbar.
#2 Use the best security software
Antivirus and firewall protection is critical to maintaining online hygiene. No matter how “careful” we are or how smart we think we are about the links and files we click, having strong and up-to-date security software is essential. Even on the most “safe” and reputable websites, threats can be well hidden. It is worth investing in a smart antivirus platform that guarantees our protection. Today, the most reputable antivirus software solutions use big data and artificial intelligence to monitor running applications and detect/prevent attacks long before they happen.
#3 Consider using an AD blocker
According to studies, 42% of users around the world have installed an ad blocker on their devices. An ad blocker is a tool that uses a series of filters to block specific content, remove distracting ads, block fake news, and thus make a website easier to read. Except for the user’s convenience, the ad blocker also removes the noise of “malicious advertising” and prevents us from downloading dangerous content, as many ads contain malware by “hiding” it.
#4 Use a strong password
Not surprisingly, the stronger our password, the more protected we are from malicious activity. We should avoid using dates, phone numbers, favorite movies and sports teams as our password as it is very easy for someone to crack or even guess it. A strong password should contain special characters, symbols, digits, capital letters, etc.
#5 Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
It is the easiest and most effective way to verify that your users are who they say they are. Two-factor authentication is a specific type of multi-factor authentication (MFA) that strengthens access security by requiring two methods to verify our identity. These factors can include something only we know, like a username and password, as well as something we have, like a smartphone app, to approve authentication requests.
2FA protects against phishing, social engineering, and password brute force attacks and protects your logins from attackers exploiting weak or stolen credentials. Therefore, enabling it will certainly increase the security of our accounts on the Internet. Even if someone guesses our password, they will not be able to access your account.
#6 Use a virtual private network (VPN)
Most VPN users cite security and privacy reasons for choosing this option. VPN is seen as an opportunity to establish a protected network connection when using public networks.
VPN normally works as an intermittent service between us and the website we are visiting. It encrypts our data and hides our real IP address. Normally, our information can be seen by everyone who has access to the network. However, if our information is encrypted, hackers cannot decrypt our information and therefore we are safe.
#7 Beware of suspicious URLs
As a user, it is important to ensure that the websites we visit are safe. A quick tip is to pay attention to the left side of the web address. If we see a padlock sign, it means that the connection is secure. On the contrary, the exclamation marks indicate that the connection is not secure. The information sign means that the site is not using a private connection.
In addition, we can see if the website begins with “HTTP” or “HTTPS”. The difference between the two is that HTTPS uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to encrypt normal HTTP requests and responses. HTTPS is much more secure: If browsers use HTTPS to pass information, it means hackers can’t read the data.
