Top 10 Internet Safety Rules & What Not to Do Online

A top goal of cybercriminals is to trick you into downloading malware—programs or apps that carry malware or try to steal information. This malware can be disguised as an app: anything from a popular game to something that checks traffic or the weather. As PCWorld advises, don’t download apps that look suspicious or come from a site you don’t trust.

Best Practices for How to Safely Browse the Internet

If you think devious websites are the only places where spyware awaits its victims, you are in for a shock. Spyware, which is software that steals sensitive user data without consent, lurks in many corners of the internet, often in places where you’d least expect it. All it takes is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time to compromise your internet browsing safety.

Is your state cyber secure? Or is it one of the most hackable? Find out in our Cyber Hygiene Risk report.

Here’s where the danger lies:

• You open your web browser and start browsing
• You visit a site and unknowingly fall into a spyware trap, such as:
  • A pop-up you click on, even to close it
  • A deceptive link that you follow
  • A clickable graphic that leads down a dangerous path

  Spyware quickly begins its task of stealing your information (including credit card numbers, usernames, and passwords), directing your browser to suspect sites, changing or deleting your files, pestering you with endless pop-ups, and slowing your PC to a crawl.

  Internet browsing safety

  Internet safety can be deceiving. Seemingly reputable sites may contain spyware traps, or the sites themselves may be counterfeit—phishing sites posing as the real thing to lure you into their scams. The path away from internet safety often begins innocently enough; however, certain sites are more prone to be sources of spyware, including:

  • Adult sites
  • File sharing sites
  • Social networking sites

  Follow these internet safety tips for avoiding spyware and fortify your computer security right away:

  • Avoid questionable websites.
  • Only download software from sites you trust. Carefully evaluate free software and file-sharing applications before downloading them.
  • Update your operating system regularly.
  • Increase your browser security settings.
  • Type in a trusted URL for a company’s site into the address bar of your browser to bypass links in an email or instant message.
  • Make sure that you have the best security software products installed on your home and business devices:
    • Use antivirus protection and a firewall
    • Get antispyware software protection

    Stay safe online with Webroot

    An unprotected computer is like an open door for websites that threaten your internet safety with spyware and computer viruses. Firewalls monitor internet traffic in and out of your computer and hide your PC from online scammers looking for easy targets. Products like Webroot Internet Security Plus and Webroot AntiVirus make avoiding spyware easier by:

    • Preventing spyware and viruses from infiltrating your device
    • Quarantining and deleting questionable content from the internet
    • Scanning your system for malicious software 60x faster than the leading competitor scan time average
    • Protecting your identity online with secure web browsing on your desktop, laptop, tablet, or mobile phone
    • Securing your system from keystroke logging and webcam spying
    • Minimizing your system’s resources by using cloud services to provide a fast and robust method of securing your systems
    • Providing 100% in-house support from our Colorado-based customer support team

    While free antispyware and antivirus downloads are available, they just can’t keep up with the continuous onslaught of new spyware strains. Previously undetected forms of spyware and viruses can often do the most damage, so it’s critical to have up-to-the-minute, guaranteed protection.

    Top 10 Internet Safety Rules & What Not to Do Online

    

    A 19-year-old running for public office in New Hampshire found out about the importance of following Internet safety rules the hard way. As Seacoast Online reports, his opponents found images in his social media posts that were sexually suggestive and referenced past drug use. Just like that, his political career crashed and burned upon takeoff. But, unfortunately, he isn’t the only one, as careless Internet habits have left others exposed to scams, identity theft and physical harm at the hands of people they met online. With more users accessing the Internet through mobile devices, these risks are changing and growing quickly.

    Even though apps loom larger in most people’s daily online interactions than traditional websites do, that does not mean that the basic Internet safety rules have changed. Hackers are still on the lookout for personal information they can use to access your credit card and bank information.

    Unsafe surfing can also lead to other threats—from embarrassing personal comments or images that, once online, are nearly impossible to erase, to getting mixed up with people you’d rather have had nothing to do with.

    Here are the Top 10 Internet safety rules to follow to help you avoid getting into trouble online (and offline).

    

    1. Keep Personal Information Professional and Limited

    Potential employers or customers don’t need to know your personal relationship status or your home address. They do need to know about your expertise and professional background, and how to get in touch with you. You wouldn’t hand purely personal information out to strangers individually—don’t hand it out to millions of people online.

    2. Keep Your Privacy Settings On

    Marketers love to know all about you, and so do hackers. Both can learn a lot from your browsing and social media usage. But you can take charge of your information. As noted by Lifehacker, both web browsers and mobile operating systems have settings available to protect your privacy online. Major websites like Facebook also have privacy-enhancing settings available. These settings are sometimes (deliberately) hard to find because companies want your personal information for its marketing value. Make sure you have enabled these privacy safeguards, and keep them enabled.

    3. Practice Safe Browsing

    You wouldn’t choose to walk through a dangerous neighborhood—don’t visit dangerous neighborhoods online. Cybercriminals use lurid content as bait. They know people are sometimes tempted by dubious content and may let their guard down when searching for it. The Internet’s demimonde is filled with hard-to-see pitfalls, where one careless click could expose personal data or infect your device with malware. By resisting the urge, you don’t even give the hackers a chance.

    4. Make Sure Your Internet Connection is Secure. Use a Secure VPN Connection

    When you go online in a public place, for example by using a public Wi-Fi connection, PCMag notes you have no direct control over its security. Corporate cybersecurity experts worry about “endpoints”—the places where a private network connects to the outside world. Your vulnerable endpoint is your local Internet connection. Make sure your device is secure, and when in doubt, wait for a better time (i.e., until you’re able to connect to a secure Wi-Fi network) before providing information such as your bank account number.

    To further improve your Internet browsing safety, use secure VPN connection (virtual private network ). VPN enables you to have a secure connection between your device and an Internet server that no one can monitor or access the data that you’re exchanging. Read more about What is VPN

    5. Be Careful What You Download

    A top goal of cybercriminals is to trick you into downloading malware—programs or apps that carry malware or try to steal information. This malware can be disguised as an app: anything from a popular game to something that checks traffic or the weather. As PCWorld advises, don’t download apps that look suspicious or come from a site you don’t trust.

    6. Choose Strong Passwords

    Passwords are one of the biggest weak spots in the whole Internet security structure, but there’s currently no way around them. And the problem with passwords is that people tend to choose easy ones to remember (such as “password” and “123456”), which are also easy for cyber thieves to guess. Select strong passwords that are harder for cybercriminals to demystify. Password manager software can help you to manage multiple passwords so that you don’t forget them. A strong password is one that is unique and complex—at least 15 characters long, mixing letters, numbers and special characters.

    7. Make Online Purchases From Secure Sites

    Any time you make a purchase online, you need to provide credit card or bank account information—just what cybercriminals are most eager to get their hands on. Only supply this information to sites that provide secure, encrypted connections. As Boston University notes, you can identify secure sites by looking for an address that starts with https: (the S stands for secure) rather than simply http: They may also be marked by a padlock icon next to the address bar.

    8. Be Careful What You Post

    The Internet does not have a delete key, as that young candidate in New Hampshire found out. Any comment or image you post online may stay online forever because removing the original (say, from Twitter) does not remove any copies that other people made. There is no way for you to “take back” a remark you wish you hadn’t made, or get rid of that embarrassing selfie you took at a party. Don’t put anything online that you wouldn’t want your mom or a prospective employer to see.

    9. Be Careful Who You Meet Online

    People you meet online are not always who they claim to be. Indeed, they may not even be real. As InfoWorld reports, fake social media profiles are a popular way for hackers to cozy up to unwary Web users and pick their cyber pockets. Be as cautious and sensible in your online social life as you are in your in-person social life.

    10. Keep Your Antivirus Program Up To Date

    Internet security software cannot protect against every threat, but it will detect and remove most malware—though you should make sure it’s to date. Be sure to stay current with your operating system’s updates and updates to applications you use. They provide a vital layer of security.

    Keep these 10 basic Internet safety rules in mind and you’ll avoid many of the nasty surprises that lurk online for the careless.

    Products to ensure your Internet safety:

    • Kaspersky Internet Security
    • Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection
    • Kaspersky Antivirus

    Related articles:

    • What Is a Virtual Private Network (VPN): How It Works and Why You Need a VPN
    • What is VPN
    • How to Avoid Public Wi-Fi Security Risks

    Top 10 Internet Safety Rules & What Not to Do Online

    Even though apps loom larger in most people’s daily online interactions than traditional websites do, that does not mean that the basic Internet safety rules have changed. Hackers are still on the lookout for personal information they can use to access your credit card and bank information.