It does not matter how you spend your time online or how much amount of it you spend online, what matters is that you leave tiny bits of yourself everywhere you surf on the internet. Moreover, it may have not occurred to you that with your online presence you are at risk of being targeted by unscrupulous individuals or cybercriminals who can cause you harm by stealing your identity. Besides being the victim of such attackers, online privacy has become a basic need.
Taking measures for protecting your online presence is a smarter and safer choice to make and this can be achieved even without any interference in your usual online activities but in a safer way. Here are the simple ways to have a secure online presence.
1. Using Custom Private Web Browsers instead of Private Browsing
Private browsing from your usual browser will not secure your digital footprints, it will just hide your browsing history. But using a custom private browser instead will protect your online activity and will not save any of your information. Some of the most secured private web browsers are DuckDuckGo, Tor Browser, and Epic Privacy Browser. These are the safest browsers to surf with trackers blocked during the browsing session.
2. Utilising passwords for all devices
What will happen if you leave your phone or laptop somewhere, or even worse, they get stolen without passcode in them? Then anyone who finds them will be able to access everything on them. From email address and phone numbers to social media accounts, your personal information stored can cause you major threats. To avoid these worst-case scenarios, you just need to add a passcode to all your devices, apps and accounts to safeguard your online presence.
3. Having unique and strong passwords
Cyber experts have suggested that most of the passwords are too obvious and easy to guess. If you are using one same password for all your social media accounts, there is a fair chance that if one account is accessed by a hacker, then all the accounts can be accessed by them easily without any efforts. To avoid this, you need to create passwords that are unique and difficult to guess for each account. You can also consider using a password manager if you have too many accounts online and lesser memory.
4. Be careful with public wi-fi
Public wifi is surely free and convenient to use. However, they do not offer you the best terms of security. When you use free public wifi, anyone can easily eavesdrop on what you are doing online with the right tools. Even the wifi that is password protected is not safe. Therefore, while using public wifi you must never log in to your bank account or enter credit card details and other vulnerable transactions and logins. If you need to do, then you must use a VPN ( Virtual Private Network) that will encrypt your activity preventing others from seeing it.
5. Limit your sharing on Social Media
If you are sharing too much of your personal information on social media through photos and videos, then there is a risk of reaching your personal information in the wrong hands. Not only making sure what content you post on social media is enough, but you also need to have all the privacy checks in your settings. Always ensure that you are showing your personal information and feed only to selected individuals. Your social media accounts should always be private and not public. In this way, you can limit the number of people who have access to your social media photos and videos. Providing a small amount of personal information can lead to a major theft or loss. By taking these measures you can safeguard your and your family’s online presence in this digital age.
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