There are new and more sophisticated threats preventing us from fully experience our Web browsing: phishing & whaling attack, identity theft, tabnabbing and many others are waiting for us to take a false steps. Computers and Internet brings lot of information and convenience to our daily life, but what about the threats it brings?
Don't you think that a PC or hand-held devices such as smart phone, tab etc. connected with internet can harm you or make threat to your life or made you mad after knowing your bank balance has dropped without your knowledge, you are warned!
If you are conscious about "identity theft intelligence", we advice an online test here with Comparitech.com. Your awareness about Identity Theft will be increased after the test. Here we look at some tips for safe computer usage, Internet browsing, Social Networking and email.
Well Maintained Operating Systems (OS) Keep You Safe Computer Usage
While Windows 7, Windows 8, Apple's Mac and Linux Ubuntu OSs are very safe and when their safety is strengthened by well-designed software to protect the chances of being infected is negligible, the fact is that many of the viruses circulating on the Internet appeal to user input through sophisticated deception, which surely will result in a malware infection. From here we can see some simple but very effective way, and if we pay enough attention, we remain absolutely safe.
Branded PCs ships with OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) OS along with a bunch of free software in which many of them we seldom use or not at all required. In this, it is advisable to remove those unwanted software installed during the setup process.
Once the basic setup has been done on your PC, ie., installation of OS and other major application software those we trusted, remember to implement the following tips for our safe computer usage and internet browsing journey world.
Remove Unwanted Programs (Apps) and Clean Your PC Periodically
To remove those unwanted software programs or Applications (Apps) from your PC use free and reliable software like Revo Uninstaller. After uninstalling, you have to clean your PC's registry, so that leftovers and hidden data won't disturb our machine.
Use another free software yet powerful and reliable from Piriform - CCleaner. In order to keep your PC healthy, I recommend periodical use of these two programs. Many websites offer these services online and collect your personnel data for their benefit. Don't allow any website to scan your PC online unless it is either Manufacturer of the PC or Reputed OS manufacturers.
Use a Reputed Antivirus program along with a Firewall
First, we must always use security software, antivirus and firewalls are well entrenched in the market. Microsoft Security Essentials, Panda cloud Antivirus and Comodo Antivirus, all highly respected software and excellent reputation. We must also ensure that our operating system, security software and Web browser are always with the latest updates offered by manufacturers.
Do not spread Your email address
It is obvious in these times, but it is always important to remember that we should not give our email address to places or people which have no safe references. These sites may make us victims of spam or sell our ID in an email list to companies that then sell this information.
Use strong passwords
In the case of passwords, always remember that in any point of instance we must not use our name or any word or date that we identified, such as our favourite sports team or your birth date or your lover's name. Currently there is a technique carried out by hackers call "social engineering" which is basically stalking a user of Facebook or other social network to find important details about their lives and try to guess the password using this technique. Be careful with passwords! A strong password is one that uses a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters with numbers mixed with at least one special characters. Also a good measure is to not use the same password for all services.
Do not confirm anything without being read or understand
Really important thing to remember is never click yes on any window that we have not requested. This could allow viruses enter into our PC. In case of any doubt or something looks suspicious to us, we must always cancel or stop the operation. If you suspect something unexpectedly happened, disconnect your internet connection immediately. Do not install applications only because of free. It may install malwares on your computer.
Beware of Social Networks
As a special case of social networks justifies taking a good time to set up variables offered by the sites that provide this service as Facebook. This is because at present we share much of our lives in these places, and that this information can be accessed by all is a big risk. We must always be careful with whom we became friends through these networks as they may have criminal intentions.
Be careful with the material you download from Internet
One of the entry points used by viruses to infect our computer is no doubt that we perform downloads of movies, videos or music through torrents, P2P programs like eMule or Ares or direct downloads from sites like Megaupload or Rapidshare because they are a source of trojans and other malicious programs that may damage our equipment. If we take these tips and put them into practice, and we added a little common sense to navigate, can calm surf the Internet and enjoy its benefits without compromising the security of our data and our computer.
You should be alert when your children uses computer
Most of the computers get affected or compromised by malware or viruses due to the software programs brought by school going children. It is necessary that both teachers and parents know how to orient it on a safe and good practice through the networked computers and children should be cautious about what information they share publicly. If your computer behaves strangely, let children talk to their parents to make it repair or cleaning of malware. Parents and teachers should watch to situations around the student and to intervene in time to helping the victim and explaining the gravity of the situation to the aggressor.
Verify before clicking a link on the webpage you are viewing
We encounter external links while viewing a webpage and it helps us finding more detailed guidance available there. It won't be true always! You sometimes reach unwanted sites if you click links without verification.
