Protect Your Info – Keep Safe Online
What kind of web sites can infect your computer?
a) Sites that provide up-to-date news stories
b) Sites about the hottest celebrities
c) Porn sites
d) Sites where professionals go to keep up-to-date on developments in their field
e) Sports sites
f) All of the above
Hint: The answer is not the one that is probably your first guess
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Answer: F) All of the above
We are told to be careful of clicking on links. There are some you should not click on, like those that say there is a problem with your account and that say you should click on the link to fix it.
But there are others that look strange or that don’t seem to go where you think you want to end up, but they are actually perfectly OK. There are legitimate reasons for using these. On the other hand, they could also be used for malicious purposes.
The lesson is that you can never be sure where a link is going to take you. You need to exercise caution.
It is hard to tell if a link is safe. But context and whether or not you trust the person providing the link can help.
Security is not just about rules. It is not just about risks. But to understand how to keep safe and protect yourself and your information, you need to understand the risks and the rules and practices that can keep you safe.
Blindly following the rules, even security rules, will not keep you safe. Relying on rules to keep you safe will backfire.
You must be informed. That is why I am providing this information. You must be able to recognize when there is a problem and when you might be at risk. Rules alone will not do that for you.
Today’s extended tip talks about True Security. That may even mean not following the rules. Read about it HERE
Default settings on e-mail programs often put your computer at risk. Changing some of those settings can protect you.
Some of the settings you should consider changing are:
View e-mail as “text” and not as “html”
Turn off the “preview” function
Don’t display external images
Don’t allow executables to run
Details on these settings and why they are important, as well as the drawbacks, are discussed in the extended tip. Ongoing access to the extended tips will be made available in a few days.
Don’t use your computer logged in as an administrator. Make your account a standard user (“Limited” user) and use that account for your daily operation. Only use administrative-level access when you are setting up your computer, installing new software or hardware, and the like. Then return to a limited account for your regular use.
If you get prompts about making changes to your computer, be especially careful. Clicking “Yes” may allow a malicious program to do something destructive to your system.
So you’ve heard about the new app that everyone’s downloading. Or maybe it’s a toolbar. Or some other cool program.
Some of these programs aren’t safe. Some will compromise your phone or computer. Others may make it vulnerable to hackers. Unfortunately, it’s hard to know if it’s safe.
Whether it’s for your phone or your computer, think before you click.
Realize there’s a threat. Do research, where possible. Recognize that you could get compromised.
Don’t use the same password repeatedly. You should ideally have a different password for every place you use a password. At the very minimum, have a different password for each and every place that deals with sensitive information. If someone is able to get one of your passwords, they don’t get automatic access to all the others if your passwords are different.
Have you ever made a mistake when typing? Have you ever remembered a name incorrectly? Is your bank’s web site mybank.com or mybank.org?
If you type just one character wrong when you are going to a web site, you end up at the wrong place. Usually, you’ll discover the mistake when you get there. But what if the wrong site looks exactly like the right site?
Hackers have done this. Imagine you are going to your bank but end up on a hacker’s web site that looks exactly like your bank? This happens. The customer may never realize they made this mistake. And later, they wonder where their money went.
Don’t let this happen to you. Make sure you go to the correct site. Check the spelling before you hit “enter.”
Don’t believe pop-up warnings.
You may see a message pop up on your screen, especially while using the Internet, that says that a virus or other bad software has been detected on your computer. It tells you to click on a button or link or to call a phone number to “fix” the problem.
Or it may say that there are illegal files on your computer and that Law Enforcement or the FBI will take action if you don’t pay the fine.
Don’t respond to these. These are “scams.”
Many times, you will infect your computer by doing so. Or you may end up paying a scammer to fix a problem that doesn’t exist. Or both.
Don’t respond to these pop-up warnings.
You’ve probably heard that a good password should use a combination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numerals, and “special characters” (like the characters % $ ! ^ ] { etc.). Some sites don’t allow the use of some of these. But perhaps the biggest problem is that a “strong” password is one that people often think they can’t remember. So they decide to create something they can remember instead. These often are not very good passwords.
What if you could have both: a strong password and the ability to remember it?
Try this. Come up with a sentence that you will remember. Take the first letter of each word. Throw in a couple numbers and special characters.
While this is not a Great password, is can create a Good password, as long as the result is long enough and not guessable.
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