How to Stay Safe Online: Tips for Staying Cyber Secure
Did you know that there is a cyberattack every 39 seconds? As cybercrime continues to grow at an alarming rate, it’s more important than ever to make sure you’re doing everything you can to stay safe online. Every year since 2003 October has been recognised as Cyber Security Awareness Month. This month was created to help individuals protect themselves online as threats to technology and confidential data become more commonplace, and to ensure that individuals stay safe and secure online. With so much of our lives happening in the digital world, it’s important to make sure our cyber security measures are up-to-date.
Here are A Few Tips To Help You Stay Cybersecure This October:
An important tip in cyber security is to create strong passwords. Hackers are always trying to guess passwords, so it’s important to make yours as difficult to crack as possible. Use a combination of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. Avoid using easily guessed words, use passwords that are long, unique, and randomly generated.
Another important cyber security tip is to never click on links or attachments from unknown senders. This is how many hackers gain access to people’s computers and steal their information. Hackers can use malicious links and attachments to infect your computer. Only click on links from sources you trust, and be wary of email attachments, even if they appear to come from a trusted sender.
Keep your software up-to-date. This includes your operating system, web browser, and any other software you use regularly. Outdated software can be full of security vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit. By keeping your software and operating system up to date, you can patch any security vulnerabilities that may exist.
If a link looks a little off, think before you click. It could be an attempt to get sensitive information or install malware. Phishing scams are becoming more sophisticated, so it’s important to be aware of how they work and what they look like.
Make sure to update your software. If you see a software update notification, act promptly. Better yet, turn on automatic updates. Back up your data: In the event that your data is compromised, it’s important to have a backup so you can restore it.
Enable multi-factor authentication: Multi-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security by requiring you to provide more than just a password to log in. This makes it much harder for hackers to gain access to your account, even if they have your password.
How to Stay Safe Online
- Think before you post. Don’t upload or share anything you wouldn’t want your parents, carers, teachers or future employers seeing. Once you post something, you lose control of it, especially if someone else screenshots or shares it.
- Don’t share personal details. Keep things like your address, phone number, full name, school and date of birth private, and check what people can see in your privacy settings. Remember that people can use small clues like a school logo in a photo to find out a lot about you.
- Watch out for phishing and scams. Phishing is when someone tries to trick you into giving them information, like your password. Someone might also try to trick you by saying they can make you famous or that they’re from a talent agency. Never click links from emails or messages that ask you to log in or share your details, even if you think they might be genuine. If you’re asked to log into a website, go to the app or site directly instead.
- Think about who you’re talking to. There are lots of ways that people try to trick you into trusting them online. Even if you like and trust someone you’ve met online, never share personal information with them like your address, full name, or where you go to school.
- Keep your device secure. Make sure that you’re keeping your information and device secure.
- Never give out your password. You should never give out your password or login information. Make sure you pick strong, easy-to-remember passwords.
- Cover your webcam. Some viruses will let someone access your webcam without you knowing, so make sure you cover your webcam whenever you’re not using it.
By following these tips, you can help protect yourself and your information online. Cyber security is important for everyone, so make sure to spread the word and help keep the internet a safe place for all.
Emma Meech, Digital Marketing Executive
