Internet

5 Things You Do Everyday That Make You Vulnerable Online

A recent article in a famous magazine stated the modern creed of the world should follow five important digital safety commandments which will regulate their life. To be precise, digital safety rules must be followed compulsorily by every internet user to escape the omnipresent tentacles of cybercrime. Read the top five ways you make yourself vulnerable online through your carelessness and how it drastically affects you and your family.

Not Using A Password Manager

Passwords are locks of the digital vaults everyone uses these days. Every vital document, from our core financial details to medical information, is protected by passwords. Of course, there are other advanced ways to get authentication, from fingerprints to face and retinal scans. But passwords are the most common digital locks every person trusts to keep their online data safe.

It is essential to make that password versatile and complex to crack. Imagine a person gets hold of your email id password somehow and tries it on other platforms like your bank account or your Amazon account. They will get easy access to all the accounts if the password is the same.

A thief tries hard to pick a lock in your car, and he also gets to enter your home, garage, and even your safety locker just by disabling one single lock system. Don’t make the mistake of using the same password or easily guessable password for all the accounts.

Use a good password manager like 1Password to create multiple, complex passwords for all your accounts and store them safely with the necessary encryption. Avoid making one Facebook or Google account and logging into several services using them.

Each time you do it, the new service or app gets access to every contact and core detail you have stored in your Gmail and Facebook. Think twice whether it is worth exposing your contact details to every app you download online.

Trusting Strangers Blindly

Never trust strangers and share your intimate details with them in the dating apps, forums, online support groups, comments, etc. Of course, many people share critical views in such places. But take a moment and consider whether you will disclose your living location to a person you have never met in person?

Somehow, such things get discussed easily online in dating chats as people believe no harm will come from sharing such details with someone you don’t know. Always check the authenticity of a person using their real name or number on the Nuwber website before building a solid friendship with them online.

Oversharing Personal Info

Always avoid oversharing on online platforms. A recently widowed mother shared her financial difficulties in an online support group and how she could not buy games and apps her six-year-old son demanded. Soon after, the kid befriended a game mate who shared some great game techniques, coins to purchase power, etc.

One fine day, he asked the kid to give him his mother’s credit card number, details, and the authentication code that came through the mobile. The kid obeyed him religiously and printed out scores of dollar images his game mate sent through the house printer.

The kid genuinely believed his game mate was helping his mother financially by sending her dollars for a small fee that will get deducted from her credit card. The mother was shocked at the scam and discovered the culprit belonged to the support group.

Authorities helped her arrest the culprit and recover the money only because he was an amateur. The mother did not share such details in any other online platform, narrowing the lead for them. It would have been quite hard to track a professional hacker, on the other hand, and deduce who the culprit is if the mother was an avid social media user.

Lack of Awareness

Be aware of the different ways you can be scammed online by reading about it. Keep your friends, kids, and family members informed about such scams to prevent incidents like the one described above. Know how people get cheated and know what to do about it and whom to contact if you become a victim by chance.

Share your knowledge with others, especially kids and older adults who are new to online phishing scams. Don’t let the culprits use them as a way to target you or steal from you using their innocence. Equip them to question and say ‘no’ sternly if they feel something is fishy.

Discussing with them regarding different types of scams is enough to make them get alerted in most situations. Visit conferences or webinars regarding web safety to know about the simple and free plugins, encryption software that will keep you safe from online thefts. Try to share your knowledge on social media to help others and create awareness instead of sharing important personal details compromising your safety.

Failing to Take Precautions

You can never be too careful, but taking the proper precautions and acting immediately with poise will help in minimizing the losses.

Ensure you use good plugins to erase your browsing history, keep your social media settings private and befriend people after careful consideration.

Never download anything from a new source, and do not open email attachments promising you a million-dollar win.

Do not oversubscribe to anything and everything you see and shop carefully online using legitimate websites with HTTPS extension.

Keep an antivirus package like Norton or AVG installed and running on the computer permanently. Update them and renew them when necessary. It prevents 50% of the issues as this software will warn you when you try to enter an unsafe website.

Conclusion

Carelessness makes you vulnerable online. Use the five-way strategy of taking precautions by using suitable software, being aware, avoiding oversharing, not trusting strangers and using efficient password managers to overcome this issue. It is possible to stay safe online if you are willing to take a few extra steps. Keep yourself updated and always stay alert to prevent the numerous cyberattacks targeting you.

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