Many of us believe that our bits of personal data aren’t crucial to hackers, but the fact is that everything about you is precious. And it’s not just the hackers you should be cautious about – even your ISP markets your data to third parties for advertising purposes. If you desire to preserve your details; you have to take specific steps. One of them is not to share too much information online. Here are some more online safety tips for 2018 for privacy-conscious netizens. (Also check, Cyber Security and Privacy Predictions for 2018).
8 Best Online Safety Tips for 2018
Have a look at the following online safety tips for 2018 that can help you boost up your online safety and security..
1. Always Remember To Log-out
When you stop using your internet banking account or social media account, be sure to log out. By simply logging out of your account, you can prevent intruders from accessing your personal information. Don’t be under the impression that closing the window will automatically log you out of your account.
Unless you log yourself out, you run the risk of getting tracked and hacked. Logging out of your account is particularly important when you are accessing the service on an unsecured public network or device. If you use social media on a friend’s device, it becomes necessary to log out.
2. Avoid Accessing Confidential Account Over Public Network or Device
Never access your social or online banking accounts on an unsecured public Wi-Fi account. Public networks are susceptible to getting hacked. They may also collect your data and send it to third parties. Rogue networks may intercept your traffic and steal passwords. To reduce your risk of getting tracked, avoid accessing your accounts from public Wi-Fi networks. And if you absolutely must use a public Wi-Fi, use it with a reliable VPN.
3. Get A VPN Extra Layer Of Protection
A VPN will route all of your traffic through an encrypted tunnel. As a result, your ISP cannot keep track of your online activities. Even if a hacker manages to intercept your data, they cannot make sense of the encrypted messages.
Using a VPN, you can gain access to geographically restricted content from any part of the world. A VPN will hide your true IP address and prevent surveillance agencies or your ISP from finding out your true identity. This way you can surf the web privately and anonymously.(Also see, Best VPN 2018 – Top VPN Service Providers Review)
4. Never Give Away Your Personal Information For Any Prize
Businesses often ask you to enter your personal information or email address in exchange for an opportunity to enter a contest or unlock some locked content. If you assume that giving your email address is not such a big deal, you’re in for a big surprise. They are not collecting your personal details for fun. They use your information for marketing purposes. And they may even sell it to third-party advertisers for revenue.
5. Avoid Sharing Your Location
We all want to let the whole world know that they are holidaying at a luxury resort or dining at a fancy restaurant? Most of us have the habit of sharing our location online. Whenever we enter a great place, we post status updates and pics on Facebook and Instagram.
Perversely, this practice can sometimes land us in trouble. When you use the geo-tagging feature, third parties can find out your actual location and cause you some real harm. For example, a burglar may get to know that you’re out partying and there’s nobody home.
6. Beware Of Malicious Emails
We all receive suspicious emails now and then. Make sure you don’t open these emails or click any links inside it. By clicking links or downloading their content, you might install malicious software on your computer. Just delete these emails and don’t be tempted to reply to them.(Also read, Phishing Attacks – 5 Tips To Protect Yourself)
You will probably want to ask them to remove you from their list. However, by simply replying to them, you are confirming that your email is indeed active. Another pitfall is that when you reply to these emails, your email provider will most probably assume that you find these emails useful, so it will not label them as spam. If you find spammy emails in your inbox, label them as spam and delete them.
7. Set A Strong Password
Using a strong password comes as one of the best Online Safety Tips for 2018. Cybercriminals try every trick in the book to steal your personal information. Make sure you don’t use generic passwords that are easy to break.
Even if you use a strong password, there is no guarantee that hackers cannot break it. However, a strong password will at least make things difficult for them. Ideally, your password should include letters, numbers, and special characters. Using the two-factor authentication is also a good idea.
8. Better To Browse Anonymously
One of the best Online Safety Tips for 2018 is browsing online; If you are concerned about your privacy, try using Tor. And be sure to use a VPN. Do not open shortened URLs on a free browser. A VPN will not just make you anonymous by changing your IP, but it will also encrypt all your data so that it cannot be easily broken down by hackers.(Also see, Top Torrent Searches in 2017)
Conclusion -8 Best Online Safety Tips for 2018
In an ever-evolving world, we spend more and more time browsing the web. It’s, therefore, crucial to keeping all of your sensitive private data safe. Make sure to include keeping yourself safe online high on your New Year’s resolutions list.
