How to have safer internet browsing?
The Internet, made available to the public in 1993, is one of the most important tools in contemporary history. In less than three decades, access has become global and the Internet has become indispensable to the lives of billions of people , who use the tool to work, communicate and carry out various daily tasks, whether personal, professional or academic. However, as it has become indispensable, it has also become dangerous and a tempting environment for those who intend to do harm, through computer viruses, malware , ransomware , etc. Therefore, it is essential to take extra care when we are online.
In this special article on Safer Internet Day, we will give you several tips on how to make your browsing safer, so that you can enjoy everything you need. the internet has to offer, without fear!
1. Have an antivirus that suits your profile
It may seem like a somewhat basic tip, but the truth is that many users, when choosing an antivirus, only consider the price and choose, or for the cheapest, or the most expensive, because they believe that the value defines the quality of the product.
Although, as a rule, a more expensive antivirus offers more protection, this logic is not always the most appropriate. It is essential to analyze all the functions that an antivirus offers and compare them to your use, so that you can make the best decision. At the same time, it is important to think that, even if it is sometimes not the cheapest, antivirus is a fundamental tool and will give you protection for, normally, a year, which makes it a lasting investment.
Although there are already several quality and free antiviruses on the market, if you are still in doubt about which one to choose, you can consult the top of the Best Antiviruses 2023 , prepared by DECO Proteste.
2. Be very careful with public Wi-Fi networks
It's practically the norm that, nowadays, wherever we are there is at least one Wi-Fi network open to the public. Whether from a restaurant, a college or simply from telecommunications operators, one of the biggest risks we run while browsing is exactly when we choose to connect to this type of Wi-Fi networks, as our data is even more exposed during connection.
Avoiding them altogether would be the best option, but if this is not possible, it is important that you never make bank transactions or try to access any type of confidential data connected to a public internet network.
Image source: Olhar Digital
3. Unknown email? No thanks!
If the Spam folder exists, it is for a reason: it prevents clicking on any type of link or content in unknown emails. Unwanted email is increasingly common and one of the most frequent entry points for people with bad intentions who, through email, intend to steal your personal data.
Also pay extra attention to the email address of those who speak to you, especially if it is from a company. Hackers often use the name of well-known brands to deceive users and make them fall into a trap, but the trick is not to just look for the sender's name, but also for your email address, which is usually a bit strange. If you still have doubts, you should contact the supposed company's customer support to clarify whether the message is true.
Digiplanet helps you perform a security check on your email using our article Is your email secure?
4. Two-factor authentication
our presence in the digital world is marked by accounts and more accounts, passwords and more passwords. Whether for email, social networks or e-commerce sites, it is very important that, in addition to choosing a strong password and never repeating it between sites, you activate, whenever available, two-factor authentication.
Two-factor authentication typically uses your phone number to validate your login with a unique code, making it much harder for anyone to hack your account. If for some reason you don't want to provide your phone number, the most popular workaround is to use an authentication app, such as Google Authenticator , Microsoft Authenticator , Twilio Authy , or LastPass Authenticator .
Image source: Mambo Wi-Fi
5. Only use original and reliable applications and programs
In addition to the cool appearance, the importance of usingofficial software is bigger than you might think. For an application or program to be available online in a pirated form, it was necessary for someone to carry out reverse engineering work to break down the protections of the original product, that is, when you install this type of software, your device could become compromised. risk, as there is no guarantee that it has not been pirated and, if this happens, you will not have any type of support.
Furthermore, many of the websites that offer pirated software turn out to be completely unreliable and, sometimes, what you are trying to download is, in fact, some type of virus or malware, which will compromise the security of your equipment.
According to a global report , in 2022 there were more than four billion malware attack attempts, with an average of 400 thousand new malware created every day. Are you going to take the risk?
6. Keep your operating system up to date
updatesWhether on a computer or a smartphone, it is very important that you always choose to make updates that will be made available by the manufacturer over time. Most of the time, the update will not bring any aesthetic or functional changes that you will notice in your daily life, however, there are always security updates that serve exactly to protect your equipment and update the system so that it is prepared to deal with new threats.
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