Oftentimes, Nigerians unknowingly land into trouble with the law while using the internet. However, according to the law, ignorance is not an excuse.
The Nigerian Police Force Cybercrime Reporting Portal has released reeled out some tips to help stay safe while using the internet.
Below are the tips:
1. Keep Personal Information
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Potential employers and customers don’t need to know your personal relationship status or your home address.
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.
3. Practice Safe Browsing
You wouldn’t choose to walk through a dangerous neighbourhood — don’t visit dangerous ‘neighbourhoods’ 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.
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.
5. Be Careful About What You Download
A top goal of cybercriminals is to trick you into downloading malware — programs or applications 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.
6. Choose Strong Passwords
Passwords are one of the biggest weak spots in the whole Internet security structure, but there is 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Curled from usa.kaspersky.com
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