PROTECTING YOURSELF ONLINE The internet is proclaimed as the most important invention of the twentieth century and with pretty good reason. the internet has revolutionised the world in ways we couldnt even foresee just fifty years ago, with your mobile phone or your computer you can do almost anything you wish... communicate with people halfway around the globe, buy goods or sell and even watch videos at your convenience. Unfortunately, as with every great invention of man, the internet is rife with its own danger, this danger although great is manageable with the right orientation and approach, after all, electricity is extremely dangerous yet we have been managing it safely for hundreds of years now. hackers sent virus and trojan using spam messages and malicious links to monitor keystrokes and send personal detailsthis trojan and betbios servers and sent mostly as attractive links to good games etc.on the other hand they are like juicemix with poisons,back behind it are executable servers that monitor key strokes.be security conciou Being safe on the internet is actually very easy and all it requires is simple common sense. yes, common sense. And why is that? Most online security vulnerability happens because internet users fail to implement or simply ignore to implement simple safety measures to protect themselves. When was the last time you changed your password? Do you use the same passwords across multiple websites? Do you write your password down? If you answered yes to any of these questions then statistically you are running a eighty percent risk that one of your accounts will be hack in the nearest future. As online security experts will tell you, hackers know that it is far easier, safer and faster to exploit security loopholes caused by human carelessness rather than spend hundreds of hours searching for ways to hack a website searching for loopholes that might not even exist. The following section highlights, security vulnerabilities an hacker will look for and how to stop him. precautions 1. Not logging out This is the most common security loopholes hackers look for. Why? Because almost everybody never log out especially on social networks. When was the time you logged out from facebook, twitter, 2go? Do you know that if you never log out then there is a file called cookies on your computer or phone where your password and username is stored? to hack into your account, all the hacker needs to do is get access to your phone and read the file then he can always have access to your account once you dont change the password. So, although it might be hard and inconvinence but always log out your sensitive accounts, and you have already reduced the risk. 2. Using a password for too long Assuming a hacker gets your username and password, how long do you think he will be loggingg into your account without your knowledge? Indefinitely. Yes, as long as you are still using the same password, you both own the account, and even in extreme case he can even change the password to deny you access. So, what do you do, it is recommended that you change you account as least once every three months, that way even when an hacker gain access to your facebook, email, twitter etc he can use it at most for thhree months. 3. Using the same password across multiple websites. Now, let me walk you through how an hacker works, once a hacker gain access to any of your online accounts, the next thing he does is to find out your email. Why? Because he know there is a high probability that you are using the same password for your email. if he is right, then he gains acccess to your email, from there he will read emails you have and use it to identify your other accounts, if he is lucky, he will use the information to hack the other accounts. So, you see? Never use the same password for various accounts, the risk is too high. 4. Writing your password down Do you know that one of the greatest computer financial crime in the US was comitted by searching the thrash can of a bank? The hackers, went to the bank collected their garbage searched through it and got a password from there ... you can guess what happened. 5. Not carefully checking web addresses How do you think yahoo yahoo boys hack into their maga (victims) accounts and transfer their money. It is really simple, those victims do not carefully check the web address they log into. for instance, the letter o is very similiar to the number 0, also the letter i is similar to l when you are looking at them on a screen. So, if an hacker want to get the banking details of a victim, all he has to do to to build a similiar website and register it but changing some letters in it. for instance, they might change the o in morgan-chase to zero, and find a way to send the address to you. When you log into the fake website, it may tell you service not available but they have already saved your details, the next things is they will now go to the original website, and now use your credentials to transfer your funds. sikena 6. Out of date anti- virus To hack into a computer, is difficult but if you are careless it will be like telling a burglar where you kept your house key. The reason we have virus is because hackers want to use it to find your house key, which in this case is the password to your computer, if you have an up to date anti-virus then this is impossible because the anti-virus will protect you. 7. Sharing intimate details on social networks This maybe the most important security tip of all, as it may not only save you online but your life and future. Hackers are not the only ones who will use you these details, the list might include buglars, rapists and even murderer. Why? Revealing details online such as where you work, you phone number, whether you live alone, or even if you are at church reveal a lot to people who know how to use such information. So, be safe, when in doubt dont type it. Facebook is not your diary. other precautions include 81)never trust alarming e-mails 9)never click on embedded urls or links in original message.instead visit the site directly 10)only use urcredit cards online and over telephone with well known companies 11)be cautions of unexpected e-mail and webpages from people you dont know 12)down load documents and pictures fromonly well known file extensions 13)use your anti virus software and set to install update authomatically 14)never trust any website with request or offers you did not bargain for 15)avoid public computers for online banking or online shopping 16)review your bank and credit card statement monthlyto make sure there are nt anyunauthorise payments or transactions
Posted on: Sun, 27 Apr 2014 01:26:30 +0000