July 20, 2020
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0Protected Internet: Stay Save Online
How do you think about how many people in the world use the internet every day? You may be surprised, but this is about 4 billion users. Therefore, it is safe to say that today people are connected to the World Wide Web as never before.
On the one hand, that’s good. More than half of humanity has open access to information and new technologies. So, they can communicate with each other quickly and easily. However, there is a negative side to this: cybercrime, which is growing every year.
After all, as the internet spreads to an increasing number of daily users, cybercriminals aim to get the data of as many users as possible, not just millionaires and celebrities.
If you remember, we’ve already talked about cybercrime in article 6 Common Types Of Cyber Threats. There we’ve listed the main types and consequences of cyber threats.
However, we have only superficially studied the issue of protecting our data in the global internet space.
To not leave gaps in knowledge, we’ve decided to analyze the question of how to stay safe online in detail. We summarize all the basic tips to stay safe online that we‘ll discuss in this article.
Why is it essential to stay save online?
It is pointless to compare today’s internet with what it was 15 years ago. There were almost no cyber threats in the past since the internet was presented as something technological and new. Something that will be popular in the future, but not now. Therefore, it was easier to stay save online using it.
Today, the situation has changed. Along with the popularization of the internet around the world, various cyber threats cases are also increasing. Hackers develop new tactics and strategies that allow them to get all the necessary information in the shortest time.
According to statistics, every 39 seconds, there is one cyberattack in the world. Is there a guarantee that hackers won’t break into your data in the next 39 seconds?
You can read more in the article Why Do Cybercriminals Want To Get Into Your Inbox and protect your data.
In addition, there is a threat of total cyberattacks on ordinary users. News about various cyberattacks and leaks of user information began to appear more often.
Most recently, we’ve written about the massive data leak of Telegram users and revealed the truth about the popular TikTok app, which collects almost all its users’ data.
Therefore, it is important to stay safe online. For this purpose, there are several rules and methods. In order not to overload you with information, we will focus on the most reliable of them.
Stay safe online rules
How can I stay safe online?
Don’t worry about that. Today, there are many ways to stay save online. We’ve collected 5 the most reliable and protected ways to fight against cyber threats. You can find them below.
- Don’t use public Wi-Fi
We agree that there are situations when you need to use public Wi-Fi. It opens access to the internet in any place. However, such access comes at a cost—you endanger your data.
According to statistics, 24% of public Wi-Fi points do not use any encryption at all. If there are about 430 million Wi-Fi hotspots globally, about 100 of them are unsafe. It is quite a large amount.
Here is a list of data that becomes available to any hacker, if you still use a public Wi-Fi:
- Bank account details
- Credit card numbers
- Login credentials
Therefore, use a public point only as a last resort. Don’t use it to check your email, bank account, or social media profile. If you really need to do this, use your data plan instead.
- Use “forget used Wi-Fi network” feature
You probably know that many phones have a built-in memory function for previously used Wi-Fi networks. If you use a Wi-Fi access point of your friend, then the next time, your phone will automatically connect to this point.
This is certainly convenient, but at the same time, dangerous. Why? Because cybercriminals can set up fake Wi-Fi networks to hack into your device.
Or, for example, you used free Wi-Fi in a café. While you are in the café, your device automatically connects to the access point and broadcasts a signal that asks nearby Wi-Fi networks if they have the same SSID (Wi-Fi network name) as the access point.
In this case, the cybercriminals use a device that can scan the SSIDs broadcast by your device and then retransmit them as their own—effectively making your device believe that the hacker’s fake network is legitimate.
- Choose private tools
One of the most important rules is to use reliable tools for safe surfing and communicating on the internet. These tools will help you to protect your private chats, hide your search history, etc. These tools usually block malware, cookies, viruses, and even ads.
For example, Utopia P2P ecosystem uses multi-level data encryption that protects all users’ data. In addition, the ecosystem is anonymous and free of charge. It includes an instant messenger, email, browser, crypto wallet, and many built-in games.
- Use strong passwords
We will not surprise you if we tell that it is important to have a strong password for your social networks and devices. Why? According to statistics, 86% of passwords are weak. Anyone, even a novice hacker can hack them in a matter of seconds. Therefore, you need to come up with long passwords that will combine numbers and letters of different sizes.
We have already written about Funny Passwords that users use in different social networks and devices. To avoid being the victim of a hacker attack, think over your passwords as carefully as possible.
Also, use different passwords for each account, device, and social network. This way, you can minimize the chance that your data will be stolen by third parties. In case a hacker breaks into one of your accounts, they will only get some information. But when you use a single password for all accounts, you really risk losing all your information.
*Change your passwords about once a month.
- Turn off Bluetooth function
Undoubtedly, in 2020, only a few people use such a built-in feature as Bluetooth. However, as practice shows, many mistakenly turn it on and do not even notice it. Since if you turn on your Bluetooth for all day, you will risk exposing your data to a cyberattack on the internet.
Back in 2017, it was proven that cybercriminals use Bluetooth to hack internet users’ mobile devices.
What to do to protect yourself?
If you really want to stay save online around the clock, you should learn by heart the golden rule: only you can protect yourself in the global internet space.
In addition, you can find out a few working life hacks in the article The Best Way to Protect Yourself from Invasion of Privacy.
Therefore, choose only reliable internet assistants, and don’t put too much your private information in the public domain.
