Internet Safety Tips

Although the Internet grants us the ability to communicate with someone across the globe in a matter of seconds, it also grants the ability for a perfect stranger to walk right into our virtual lives. If the proper Internet safety tips aren’t followed, then Internet users can be in for an extremely rude awakening. One of the biggest enemies of public safety on the Internet is passivity. This is usually the result of Internet users taking potential dangers for granted simply because there is no physical threat present. However, anyone who ever hops online should always treat their computer as if it were an actual person.

Would you give a complete stranger the password to your bank account? Would you send someone a personal picture of yourself if you don’t even know their last name? You should always ask yourself qualifying questions like this before you enter sensitive information anywhere online. Because even though there isn’t someone directly in front of you who could physically steal your information, there are plenty of potential portals online through which people can get a hold of your personal information. Therefore, you should always try to double or triple verify the sources that you are considering submitting vital information to.

One of the best places to start this verification process is by looking to the bottom right hand corner of your webpage and looking for the little symbol that looks like a padlock—when you mouse over this symbol is should say “Authenticated by VeriSign, Inc.” This will help you identify sites that are safe to input your credit card information. And quite possibly the most potentially dangerous piece of information that you can enter online is your social security number. Malicious individuals can do a ton of damage with this single set of numbers. Granted, sometimes it is definitely necessary to input such information, but you should definitely try to verify the source. You can also use common sense for certain applications and sites that ask for your social security number. For example, you should never be required to put your social security number in to buy a stereo online—think twice before you enter those digits.

Another thing to watch for is tracking cookies on your computer. These won’t always actively show up, so you might have to do a computer scan to root them out. Although they won’t cause your computer to crash, they can essentially follow you around the Web and learn some of your Internet usage trends that can enable people to find out vital information which they can use against you.