Strategies To Staying Safe Online

 

Always check if your security software is up to date

Consider maintaining one email address dedicated to signing up for apps that you want to try, but which might have questionable security, or which might spam you with promotional messages. After you've vetted a service or app, sign up using one of your permanent email accounts. If the dedicated account starts to get spam, close it, and create a new one. This is a do-it-yourself version of the masked emails you get from Abine Blur and other disposable email account services.

Many sites equate your email address with your username, but some let you select your own username. Consider using a different username every time—hey, your password manager remembers it! Now anyone trying to get into your account must guess both the username and the password.

 

Clear Cache

Never underestimate how much your browser's cache knows about you. Saved cookies, saved searches, and Web history could point to home address, family information, and other personal data.

Clear your browser’s cache

To better protect that information that may be lurking in your Web history, be sure to delete browser cookies and clear your browser history on a regular basis. It's easy. In Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Opera, simply press Ctrl+Shift+Del to bring up a dialog that lets you choose which elements of browser data you want to clear. If you use a different browser, try that key combo regardless; it might work. Otherwise, search the menu.

 

Deleting cookies may cause trouble for some websites—you may lose any personalization you've applied. Most browsers let you list favorite websites whose cookies shouldn't be tossed.

Turn Off the 'Save Password' Feature in Browsers

Speaking of what your browser may know about you, most browsers include a built-in password management solution. I don't recommend them, however. I feel it's best to leave password protection to the experts who make password managers.

Think about this. When you install a third-party password manager, it typically offers to import your password from the browser's storage. If the password manager can do that, you can be sure some malicious software can do the same.

 In addition, keeping your passwords in a single, central password manager lets you use them across all browsers and devices.

 

Don't Fall Prey to Click Bait or Phishing Scams

Part of securing your online life is being smart about what you click. Clickbait doesn't just refer to cat compilation videos and catchy headlines. It can also comprise links in email, messaging apps, and Facebook. Phishing links masquerade as secure websites, hoping to trick you into giving them your credentials. Drive-by download pages can cause malware to automatically download and infect your device.

Unconvincing phishing domain

Don't click links in emails or text messages, unless they come from a source you trust. Even then, be cautious; your trusted source might have been compromised, or the message might be fake. The same goes for links on social media sites, even in posts that seem to be from your friends. If a post seems unlike the style of your social media buddy, it could be a hack.

Protect Your Social Media Privacy

There’s a common saying: if you’re not paying for a service, you’re not a customer; you’re the product. Social media sites make it easy for you to share your thoughts and pictures with friends, but it’s easy to wind up sharing too much.

You can download your Facebook data to see just what the social media giant knows about you. It may be quite an eye-opener, especially if you're the kind of person who routinely clicks on quizzes that require access to your social media account. Really, you don't need to know which Fairy tale princess or dog breed you are.

 

Beware, too, of hackers posing as your social media friends. A common scam starts with a private message and ends with hackers taking over your account and using it to continue the scam. If you get an odd or unexpected private message from a friend, ask about it using email or some other type of communication. Your friend may have been scammed.

 

You can drastically reduce the amount of data going to Facebook by disabling the sharing platform entirely. Once you do, your friends can no longer leak your personal data. You can't lose data to apps, because you can't use apps. And you can't use your Facebook credentials to log into other websites (which was always a bad idea).

 

Of course, other social media sites need attention too. Google probably knows more about you than Facebook, so take steps to manage your Google privacy, too. Make sure you've configured each social media site so that your posts aren't public (well, all except Twitter and other broadcast media services). Think twice before revealing too much in a post, since your friends might share it with others. With care, you can retain your privacy without losing the entertainment and connections of social media.