Neglecting these 10 internet safety measures will definitely get you scammed before long

https://www.pexels.com/

Nothing out there on internet is safe. Internet is inherently risky, and complete security cannot be guaranteed at any point. However, despite the risks associated with the internet, you can reduce your chances of being scammed or embarrassed by the following recommended safety practices and being mindful of your online behavior.

Secure your Online Banking:

You might wonder isn't it the responsibility of the bank to ensure all the online transactions are safe and secure. Yes it is. But, it’s essential to understand that even the strongest safety measures from any organization or company won’t be able to fully protect you if you’re not diligent in following basic internet safety protocols and exercising caution in your online activities. Here are the few ways you can secure your online banking.

1. Be sure you are downloading the official banking app from a trusted source. Most banks have their own website and inside the webpage a direct link to the app store to download the official app.
2. Enable two or multi factor authentication. It can be a combination of “password and bio-authentication (such as fingerprints, face or voice recognition)”, or “password, bio-authentication and one time password on your mobile or email” .
3. Ensure the security of your online accounts (banking, social media, any other apps) by creating a strong password that is a combination of length, random capital and lowercase letters, and special characters, and avoid using commonly used or easily guessable words. And update them every 3 months (recommended) or 6 months.
4. Never use a public wi-fi - not only in case of banking but also for any kind of online activity. If you ever need to use a public wi-fi, make sure you are connected to a trusted VPN service.
5. Sign up for banking alerts. For examples, any kind of transactions(online/offline- regardless of amount), password changes ( even if it is you who changed the password, it is good practice to have the alert on via mobile text or email, so that in case of credential theft you will be notified instantly and can take measures to stop it). If possible also register your devices, so that if any unregistered device tries to logon to your bank account you will get notified (if its you trying to logon from an unregistered device, you can easily approve it)

Social Media Safety:

Social media has become an integral part of our daily lives, playing a role in both our entertainment and financial pursuits. In today's world it is just impossible to separate oneself from social media -be that Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. Being safe on social media can be tricky depending on your profession, dependencies of business on it and personal choices. However, we still can follow few steps to make ourselves safe.

1. First and foremost, it’s important to avoid using the same email and password for your social media accounts as you do for your personal/professional account .And, the password for all of the accounts should be different than each other.
2. Enable two factor or multi factor authentication and register your devices (same as mentioned above in banking security section).
3. Familiarize yourself with the privacy settings of all your social media accounts. This will give you control who can access your content and who not. Depending on your location it may vary. For example “locking” your Facebook profile feature is not available in few countries such as United States and Canada.
4. Turn off your geolocation, if you do not want to be traced.
5. Report harassment and inappropriate content.
6. Learn about phishing and social engineering. So that if anyone is trying these things with you then you know how to handle it or take measures.
7. Be careful of what you share — such as which school/university you go to, information about your family members, your current location, the restaurant you visit daily etc. There is nothing wrong in posting pictures of you, or friends but make sure you are not revealing much details about it.
8. Do not click on links you are not sure about. If you really have to click on it for any reason and you are not sure about it, then verify the links first using free open source URL reputation checker (urlscan.io, Virustotal, urlvoid)

Email Security:

I personally believe securing your email should be your top most priority because it serves as the primary gateway to your online presence. With so many of our other online accounts being linked to our email, a compromised email account can result in a cumulative effect of security breaches across all other accounts.

1. Make your personal, professional, business and social media email separate from each other along with the passwords. So, if there is any adverse situation that one of your email gets compromised, you can be assured that your other sensitive information and online activities are still secure.
2. Enable two or multifactor authentication, strong password, security questions. Make sure to use either another recovery email or mobile number.
3. Definitely register your devices.
4. Block unwanted senders.
5. Do not use an automatic signature with your personal info (name, mobile number, company name etc.) inside your personal or social media email. Use it only when it is necessary.
6. Do not subscribe to any services/apps using your work email.
7. Enable alerts and review security notifications.
8. Do not allow the browser to remember your email and password.
9. Do not click on links or attachment without scanning them before.

Using Public Wi-Fi:

Using a public Wi-Fi can lead you to be a victim of the “man-in-the-middle” attacks, where an attacker intercepts the communication between your device and the network to capture sensitive information, such as login credentials and personal data, install malicious software and steal your data and hack your accounts. So, it is our best interest not to use a public wi-fi and if we really need to use public wi-fi, make sure you are connected to a trusted VPN service

Using Office VPN:

Most of us know about VPN and how it encrypts our data/communication from bad people on the internet. However, there is a difference between private VPN that you bought and the corporate VPN your office provides. Depending on your country, a private VPN company might or might not keep your data, even if they did until or unless it is related to any crime, they will not reveal any information (mostly). However, whenever you are connected to your corporate VPN, they have all the rights to keep all of your information about which devices you logged on , which browsers you opened, which app you downloaded and all of your activities. There are two things to keep in mind here.

1. Never use your office laptop without being connected to corporate VPN. So, even if you get hacked or anything bad happens they can go through the logs and find out how it happened and how to mitigate them.
2. Saying so, you do not want to reveal your personal online activity (be that during your work time or any other time) to your company.

Internet café/Cybercafé:

There may be some situations where you need to use a computer at a cyber café or public place, such as printing tickets or accessing online services when your own device is not available. However, it is important to be aware of the potential security risks associated with it.

1. When logging into an account in a cybercafé, make sure you are not directly under a cctv camera where your id, password and other information are visible clearly.
2. Always log out from any account.
3. If you have downloaded anything, be sure you have deleted it permanently (shift+delete+enter) from the public computer.
4. Clear the browsing history.
5. Do not insert your personal external drive.

Software/System Updates:

Most of us really get irritated with the various system and software updates every now and then and some of us also skip the updates. Even though it really can be very annoying, but it is for our best interest and safety. The main reasons of the software/system updates are bug fixing, vulnerability patching or in other terms more secure than before, new features, operating system or manufacturer support. So failing to update your software/system makes you vulnerable to threats, reduce performance, lack of support etc.

Games/File/Software Downloads:

Most of the malicious codes, virus, worms hide inside legitimate looking software. Downloading unsolicited games, apps or files from internet will definitely get you scammed and your information leaked. Also, avoid downloading anything from unverified websites or links sent to you in unsolicited emails or messages. Make sure you have a good anti-virus installed on your systems, softwares are updated.

Do not use someone else’s External Drive:

Using someone else’s external drive can be as harmful as the other mentioned vulnerabilities. The external drive can have virus, keyloggers, malwares. It can steal your data, store your key stroke, damage your hardware.

Back up Important Data:

The main reason of back ups are to keep a copy of data which is important to you. In case of system damage, ransomware attacks, disaster recovery (flood, earthquake, storms etc.), accidental deletion you can be assured that you have a copy of them and they are not lost forever. It also gives you peace of mind. The two best practices of back ups are online (cloud storage) and offline. If you are under cyberattack and have no access to internet you can still have access to your offline back up or on the other hand if your system is damaged you have access to your data via cloud storage.