Stay Safe Online
Use of The Internet
There are a myriad threats to think about when using the internet, ranging from viruses to strangers. Whilst using the internet you may have come across either a social networking site (Facebook, MySpace, Bebo etc) or maybe a chat room or a forum site. People may be using these sites as a means of finding prey anonymously for whatever reason they may have, they could be after details to find you or commit fraud. You are also susceptible to fall victim on an instant messaging service such as MSN. There is no way of telling who you are actually talking to on the internet; so be very careful.
Social Networking
When on a social networking site, there are countless opportunities for strangers to gain information about you, or maybe even view photos of you and possibly your peers.
As useful as these sites are, you must be careful as to who you are adding as a friend, it’s entirely up to you whether or not to accept a friend request from a stranger or friend.
First, the person you may be adding could be lying about any personal detail they give to you.
Secondly, you always have to keep in mind that your profile may not be as private as you’d like it. So think carefully before putting up personal information or uploading pictures.
On all social networking sites there will be somewhere to report abuse at your own discretion. The person you report will not know who has reported them, so don’t be afraid if it’s another “cyberbully”.
Chat Rooms
If You are a user of chat rooms, then you should and probably do already know that you are never to give any personal details such as your address or phone number, also think twice about using your name, people can look you up on a directory to gain your address from just your name! This is a very worrying concept. Alongside people being able to find out information about you just from your name, your employer could also find out something you may like to keep private.
NEVER go to meet someone you’ve met online in person. You don’t know why they want to meet you and who they actually are. They may be very dangerous and you could be vulnerable.
If you feel very strongly about meeting someone you have only met online then you should take precautions, such as telling someone you are going, or going with someone. Make sure where you are meeting is in an extremely busy place as you are less likely to be in danger when there are lots of people around.
Keep Your Personal Details private
When registering with a website they may ask you for personal details. The majority of site will not be using these for any malicious reasons. However you may want to check the sites terms & conditions as there should be information on what they are actually using your details for.
The reason websites ask you for your details is that they may want to use you for advertising, you can normally select whether they can do this or not when registering.
Make sure that in the URL bar there is the Prefix HTTPS rather than HTTP. This means that there can’t possibly be anyone else looking at the same thing as you.
Other Online Threats
You may be afraid of using the internet for shopping as you have to enter your bank/card details. It is always good to be careful when doing this, however it is very easy to make sure your details are secure by following a few simple rules
The company you are using will be using a secure server for entering private details. The way to check this is to make sure that in the URL bar there is the Prefix HTTPS rather than HTTP. This means that there can’t possibly be anyone else looking at the same thing as you.
You may also want to do a background check on the site if you are unfamiliar with them, you might even want to call them on a contact number that they give to ask a few questions.
Shopping online is very secure; however there is a flipside to this. You should NEVER send bank details in an email. No matter who it is to or how official the email may look don’t ever send them details.
Following all these steps should ensure that you are using the internet securely.
Thanks to volunteer, Ben, for researching and writing this piece.
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