Dangers We Face Online Each Day And How To Stay Protected

The Dangers We Face Online Each Day And How To Stay Protected

You may not realize it, but you go online to do something as simple as ordering a book or checking your email each day. You could put yourself at risk.

They estimate that around 1 in 3 adults has experienced some internet crime against themselves or their family in the past year alone. Internet crime includes fraud, theft, identity theft, hacking, and online bullying. They estimated the number of people who have experienced these crimes to have increased by 9% from the previous year.

No matter how careful we are, sometimes things happen. However, we can lean on the side of caution to help protect ourselves from things like using the internet. One way we can do this is by taking steps to keep our information safe.

Don’t let viruses make you vulnerable

viruses make you vulnerable

You’re probably already aware of how dangerous it can be to be connected to the internet – but you might not realize just how vulnerable we all are today. According to a study, over 20 million Americans were victims of malware infections last year. 

Most of these people did not have antivirus software installed and so had no protection against viruses. Moreover, free antivirus software is available online, but many people are unaware of this and often turn to less secure methods of protecting themselves – which rarely work. You can protect yourself easily by taking just a few minutes to set up your antivirus software – if you haven’t already. The best software will also save you against other threats – such as ransomware, spyware, and adware – which can be just as dangerous to your computer or smartphone.

Guard your password jealously

Guard your password

One important thing that each internet user should know about is the password. If you have your house key, you have your password, and if someone gets their hands on it, they have access to everything in the world. It would help if you were very careful about keeping your password protected, either in your head or by writing it down (which is never advised).

It would help if you used a different password for every single site that requires one. If you do this, if someone gets their hands on one of them, they won’t be able to access everything. Instead, they will have to work for it, which makes you much less likely to be targeted by someone with malicious intentions.

According to a survey conducted in 2013 by Norton, 34% of UK adults had been a victim of cyber-crime within the past year. Amongst these crimes were credit card fraud and identity theft.

To keep yourself safe online, it is essential to know that people out there want to get access to your data, such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details.

Don’t feel bad if you’ve never taken steps to protect your computer and devices from viruses. We’ve all been too busy to do it at some point, but as we become more dependent on our gadgets, the consequences of neglecting protection can be far-reaching.

Where would we be without the internet? It’s a question that few people can answer quickly. In an age where so much information is at our fingertips, it’d be nearly impossible to get through day-to-day life without being able to use the internet. However, with all the conveniences that the modern age has brought upon us comes a grave danger: vulnerability. Therefore you must keep yourself protected.

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