Recent research revealed that users spend more than 23 hours online every week. Many users don’t even stop to consider if their methods of surfing the internet are safe. Malware, malicious websites, and viruses make browsing the web a very dangerous practice. Users who don’t navigate the web safely put themselves at risk of losing valuable data or even having their identity stolen. Users should consider the following safety procedures when spending time online.
Update Browsers and Plugins Regularly
Developers constantly improve the browsing experience by implementing security updates. One of the primary reasons developers release updates is to patch any security flaws that might put users at risk. Users should ensure that browsers and any plugins are always updated to the latest version to avoid any vulnerabilities that hackers might try to exploit. Most internet browsing extensions include an automatic update feature that immediately enables downloads to the most secure version of the browser.
Review Privacy Policies of Websites
Most websites on the internet offer their privacy policies to the public. This tells users exactly what data the website collects and how it stores or uses that data. Many users make the mistake of exiting out of privacy policies before taking time to read them. Users should take time to review website privacy policies to gain a better understanding of how their data is being collected. Users are strongly advised to avoid websites without privacy policies.
Use a Password Manager
A password manager is a secure tool for users who make the smart decision to use a variety of different passwords across all their internet accounts. While multiple passwords is the safest way to protect the accounts, it can also be challenging to keep up with all of them. Password managers help with this problem by encrypting and securely storing login credentials for all online accounts with the use of a master password.
Block Pop-ups
Many users mistakenly believe that online pop-ups are unavoidable. However, this is rarely ever the case. Most browsers give the option to cut off pop-ups. Users must ensure they are always using a secure browser such as Firefox or Brave that monitor and block malicious pop-ups. While many pop-ups are harmless advertising links, several contain malware or links to inappropriate content.
Use a VPN
VPNs help maintain privacy by encrypting data and internet requests before they reach the internet. As encrypted data is sent to the VPN server, the server decrypts the requests before sending them on to the online destination.The information is then sent back through the same process, meaning no one can track the user’s activity.
Summary
Many users don’t even stop to consider if their methods of surfing the internet are safe. Malware, malicious websites, and viruses make browsing the web a very dangerous practice. Users who don’t navigate the web safely put themselves at risk of losing valuable data or even having their identity stolen. Methods of staying safe online include updating browsers, reviewing website privacy policies, using a password manager, blocking pop-ups, and using a VPN.
For assistance in evaluating your strategies, technical requirements, staff evaluations and communications contact a ThreatAdvice Professional to learn more.