How to stay safe online

   There are many different ways to stay safe online. Staying safe is very important and should not be taken lightly. People who haven’t paid attention to their online safety have been subject to theft and bullying.

   If you make an account on a social networking site you should make sure that your profile is hidden to everyone other than friends and family. You can make sure of this by changing it in the settings. If other people can see your account they will be able to talk to you, see any details about you that you have written and see all your pictures. This can be dangerous because if a paedophile can view your profile they could find out what you look like and find where you live. Also you could be subjected to bullying from people you do not no. This has happened before and some people who are bullied over the internet have killed themselves which could have been avoided by simply changing their settings. In this link we see that a teenage girl was the subject of cyber bullying and this may be part of the reason she took her own life.

   On any sight where you need to make an account you will need to enter a password. When choosing your password make sure it is something you will always remember. Also make sure that it is not easy to guess because if it’s a simple password somebody could easily access your account. This is a story about a man who had his password guessed by his wife and although it isn’t very serious it shows that passwords can be easily guessed. If it was someone else who had hacked his account things could have been much worse.

   Make sure you install an anti-virus programme. These will tell you if you have any viruses on your computer and what type they are. They also will allow you to run scans and remove any malicious software. If you do not have a type of anti-virus on your computer you may well have problems if you get a virus. Some of these programmes will prevent pop ups and even tell you if a link could be dangerous or not. Unfortunately some viruses such as the Trojan horse can remove all anti-virus programmes from your computer and proceed to steal your information.

    Firewalls are great to stop other people connecting to your internet. By setting one of these up only selected networks can use the internet and access your computer. These networks are ones that you choose and edit in the settings. If for example you want online gaming you may need to change the settings to allow connection. Firewalls can prevent you from going on certain websites and they also help to stop you being hacked.

   Viruses can do a range of different things to your computer. The Trojan virus (named after the Trojan horse) is a vicious virus that will do many things to your computer. There are many different versions of this virus and they can do the same or different things. This virus can access your computer allowing the creator to use for themselves. Another type can stop you accessing the internet on your own computer. The Trojan can also clear your system operator and steal your personal information. Identity theft can be the result of a Trojan. The Trojan can and will remove anti-virus programmes allowing other viruses in. There are many other types of viruses which can do the same thing as the Trojan or do something else.

   Malware will access a computer undetected and it can contain things such as Trojans, worms and other unwanted things. This can mean, yet again that your personal information is not safe. Malware will also cause pop ups to appear on your computer. This link is about a hospital that got attacked by malware. It took two weeks’ worth of effort to restore most computers.

   Phishing is another way people will try and get your details. It is usually done through instant messaging and email. People will use this and try and direct you to a fake website which is made to look as real as possible; there they can take details such as bank codes. This is about a woman who fell for a fake website and gave over her details. Fortunately she cancelled her accounts over the phone in time before anything was stolen.

    Spam is sending the same message many times to try and force you to read it. Spam can be sent via email but most sites have a junk box so they will not bother you so much. However by sending them in instant messages you will receive them and a firewall cannot stop them.

   Always make a backup for everything you save on your computer whether its photos or important work as these things can easily be lost. You could save your documents several times on the hard drive but they can all be wiped by hackers. You should have a copy of everything on a memory stick as well as the hard drive.

   Encryption is needed if you have wireless internet. Without it anybody can access and use your internet free of charge. Somebody with a wireless device such as a phone can find your routers signal and use it. If you have encryption they will need to know the code to use your internet.

  

Top tips

1)    Only accept emails from people you no and go on trusted sites.

2)    Always read fine prints on anything you sign up to on the internet.  Also, make sure it’s a real website you are signing up to.

3)    Use a good antivirus program, spyware remover and firewall.

4)    Beware of fake emails claiming to be from eBay, PayPal or your bank.

5)    Monitor the websites your children go on, get them to write down the websites they use.

6)    Do not use obvious passwords and change it occasionally.

7)    Do not give out any personal information such as bank details, passwords or phone numbers to anybody.

8)    If you decide to meet someone you found online go to a public place or/and go with a friend.