5 Easy tips to maximize online security as you surf the internet..
what are the best ways to protect
yourself online in the age of easy to access social media Wi-Fi everywhere you go and hundreds of free services on the Internet .
it's more important than ever to make sure that you're taking steps towards securing your data and identity online over the next couple minutes I'm going to share with you five simple things that you can and then should do today to protect yourself on the Internet thanks for joining me my name is shoaib today we're looking at five things you can do right now to vastly increase your security and privacy online some of these might seem obvious but you'll be surprised at how flippin most people are about securing their most valuable asset their identity ..
No . 1 Choose A Strong Password
So let's dive in number one choose a great password not a good password a great password a great password uses capital letters numbers symbols and at least eight characters as an example one of my favorite tricks is to use a short phrase or a song to create a password such as let's say it's the bitsy spider in this case I'll exchange the letter I for an exclamation point and the letter s for the number five so it looks like this the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout it's easy for me to remember but it's impossible to guess and it uses capital letters numbers and a symbol of course you can also use password manager programs to provide secure passwords either way choose a great password .
No . 2 Keep Software and App Up-to-Date
number two to keep all your software and apps up to date I know it may seem annoying how often Microsoft Google and Apple ask you to update software and apps but there's usually a very good reason many times the security weakness has been found and they patch it up by not upgrading you're leaving yourself unnecessarily vulnerable to a known security issue ..
No . 3 Use A Vpn
number three use a VPN most people don't realize that when they connect to a public Wi-Fi network such as a coffee shop an airport a shopping center etc any data they transmit can be intercepted it's surprisingly easy the best thing that you can do is to encrypt your public network connect using a virtual private network or VPN if you're not sure what a VPN is click up here to learn more personally I never connect to a Wi-Fi network without encrypting my connection using a VPN never
No . 4 Check Your Social Media Security Settings
number four check the privacy
settings on all your social media for you and your family whether it's Facebook Instagram Twitter you name it there are always little ways that you can secure who can see what on your social media most of the time you'll find this under privacy or security in the settings now mind you even the strictest privacy settings can't protect you from foolishly sharing too much information online that is on you but you can and should control who can see your social media posts..
No . 5 Monitor You Banks Accounts
number five
monitor your bank accounts it used to be that people would reconcile their accounts at the end of the month a time during which errors and fraudulent charges could easily be spotted nowadays we have way too much faith and confidence in the security measures set up by banks and credit cards and we rarely ever reconcile our accounts just last month I spotted three fraudulent charges on my wife's credit card that weren't caught by the card company she hadn't lost her card so we still have no idea how the thief got her information and if we had just set up automatic bill payments without checking the charges we would have ended up paying a couple under a couple hundred extra dollars that we didn't have to monitor your bank they make mistakes believe it or not and their security measures aren't perfect
No . 6 Use Common Sense
finally and most importantly number six use common sense don't give out your social security number unless absolutely necessary such as with banks or let's say an apartment management company that needs to run a background check on you set up a password to log in to all of your devices including your iPhone or your iPad set up two-factor authentication if it's an option these are all small things that they add up to become a stronger online defense for you and your family sure it's a priority for companies like Apple and Microsoft to keep you secure while using their devices and their software but in the end your security and privacy online depends mostly on you don't take that for granted take just to secure yourself today thanks for reading we've got more great posts about security online that you can find here and before you leave don't forget to give this post a thumbs up I always welcome constructive feedback in the comment section below thanks and take care .