The cyber world is such an endless portal. Its legal scope still starts big debates between people and entities. Basically, it's hard to determine who to run to when your privacy is invaded online. With that said, people must take initiative in securing themselves on the internet. It might be hard to be perfectly safe 100 percent but there are things you can do to minimize problems and to keep issues to a minor state. Here are some things that you should do if you are a constant internet user.
Take Everything With A Pinch Of Salt
The thing about the internet is that anyone can do anything they want. With that, anyone can get a website, start a Facebook page, register a Twitter account and so on and so forth in the aim of sharing fake information. This trend has become so widespread that even up to now, it still exists. Even though the number of people who understand the existence of fake news also increase in number, these sources still exist.
The problem with this is that you can put your trust on these fraudulent sources so much and who knows what happens from there. The big problem here is that these fake sources are found in almost all categories. They can be in the med field telling you that eating one kilo of garlic will heal your skin disease and they can also be in IT, telling you that sharing your password on a certain website will earn you money. With that said, it's very important to not believe anything online until your better judgment tells you to do so. More importantly, do not share them unless they are proven correct. As per CNN, triple check before you share anything.
Don't Click On Anything Without Thinking It Through
Another big security threat online is link sharing. These links can be shared through Facebook messages, status updates and even through email. Unless you're talking to a friend and you requested a link to something, it's better to not click on anything, especially on unexpected and unsolicited links.
The threat here is clicking a link that leads you to a sketchy website. Worse, it can lead you to automatically download files that will harm your computers or other devices. It can also lead you to a phony website that looks exactly like the original. This can lead you to log in with your password and sharing it with a good-for-nothing business.
Be Careful Where You Input Your Login Credentials
With that said, in case you are surprisingly brought to a familiar looking website, look at the URL above the page. Most of the time, the website looks legit but the URLs on top are something else. These fraudulent acts are commonly done on popular websites like Facebook and bank account connected sites like PayPal. Speaking of PayPal, there are also frauds who can email you saying that your PayPal account has been compromised. They mostly have "PayPal", "PayPal Team" or the likes as their names, but when you click on their email addresses, you'll find that they are not legit PayPal staff. These emails typically urge you to log in through their fake but legit looking "PayPal" sites to "fix" your compromised account.
As a whole, these are just some of the possible security tips you can get about online security and everyone just needs to be extra cautious when using the web. The scope of possible crimes you can be a victim of is rather wide, so it's important to just be extra observant in everything you do. Telegraph UK says you are now 20 times more prone to robbery while online than while on the streets.
Remember this, sketchy people online only have one goal in mind and that is to earn easy money no matter how it takes and to whose expense. These things are hard to control and authorities from different parts of the world can only do so much to implement discipline over these fraudulent individuals. This is why each and every one of us must simply do our best to avoid being a victim and being part of an unfortunate statistics.
