Everyone seems to be spending a lot of time today, and that has some perks. For example, you don’t have to do any physical shopping today. You can do most of your online shopping stress-free and get the goods delivered to your doorstep.
But online has also come with a fair share of concerns too. Your security first is at the top of the concern list when it comes to being online. The question on most people’s lips has got to be how you can be safe online. Here are a few crucial tips to use.
1) Limit the Personal Info You Share
When you’re online, especially on social media, you need to watch what you share. Too much of your info should never be shared online. When you share too much personal information, identity criminals may use this as a chance to get a hold of your data.
This may leave you vulnerable to theft and even fraud cases. What you need to do is to limit most of this info when using social media. For example, you can share your birth date but not down to the year.
Seek always to use the privacy settings and limit how much info your contacts can see.
2) Use A Different Search Engine
First, everyone today seems to be heavily reliant on Google and its services. That’s why Chrome is a big hit when it comes to browsers. But that may leave your info out there for anyone to access.
What a search engine like Google does is to share your search history with other data collections companies. This is what makes it easy for vendors to advertise on every page you visit after a search. It would help if you used anonymous search engines which block ad trackers.
3) Be Careful on What You Click
You can’t be clicking around on everything and expect to be safe online. Many phishing activities go on online, and you need to be able to discern them. For example, you will find a good-to-be-true offer from the UN and are asked to click.
From the onset, you will see that the offer is a scam and can be confirmed by a single click to the official UN site. When you click on these sites, this is where hackers can quickly gain access to your financial information. And this is done by asking to access your credit card info.
It would help if you were watchful on places you share your credit card info online.
4) Use A Virtual Private Network
When you’re on a public internet connection, you need to use a VPN to remain secure online. When you use a VPN, your access is masked, and there’s no way your internet activity will be traceable.
This will make it harder for online criminals to gain access to your online activities.You can get some of the best vpn services at an affordable fee. It also means that they won’t have access to the personal info that you share online.
5) Use Quality Antivirus
As much as most antivirus seems to slow down the speed of your PC, it would help if you had a quality one installed. When you have the right one, install it across all your devices to remain safe from hackers.
With a quality antivirus, hackers are unable to access your location or your personal information. Also, ensure that you keep your antivirus software updated.
6) Browse in Private Mode
When you browse in private mode, you will leave no digital footprint on your browser. And this will deter the search engines from lifting your search history and selling it off to other companies. Most browsers have the private mode, and you need to make use of it.
When you’re browsing on a cyber or any other PC that isn’t your own, ensure you use only the browser’s private mode.
7) Secure Your Phone
It would help if you had a passcode on your phone at all times. Your phone is probably where you access the internet most times, as many other people do. And you even have most of your private info there too.
It may seem a tad too tiresome to enter your passcode every time you need to access your phone, but it’s secure. This is particularly crucial when your phone is stolen, as the criminals may gain access to all your info.
Conclusion
There are various ways you can be safe when you’re online. These are seven of the top guides that you can use to ensure you’re safe every time you go online. They ensure that your personal or financial info isn’t accessed and you are safe wherever you are.
