The Road to Internet Security

When it comes to Internet security, most of us have a hard time finding the time to keep up with the latest trends, monitor all of our accounts, and spend a lot of extra time trying to determine whether something is a credible threat or not. It’s not laziness, it’s very often a time management issue. I mean, would you rather spend an hour a day going over a list of possible threats to your Internet security, or would you rather spend that hour with your friends and/or family?

The harsh reality, though, is that if we’re going to be online, we’re going to need to make the time to keep our online life as worry-free as possible. Because if we don’t, there are plenty of identity theft experts and malware-writing authors out there who would love nothing more than to get a piece of our pie. But it’s about striking a balance between Internet security and real life commitments. Luckily, we can take an 80/20 approach to our digital world and still have time for family, work, and hobbies.

With just a few small tweaks to our day, we can all be that much safer, and take a lot of the pressure of dealing with Internet security and online safety off of our shoulders and onto a computer program that will do it for us. Here are some examples:

• Use strong passwords to lock down your accounts:

  A good, strong password can do wonders for the security of any Internet-enabled accounts you may have. Do yourself a favor and create a great password that you can remember and stop making it easy for would-be hackers from swiping your info. (Yes, it’s possible to create a strong yet easily remembered password)

• Use, and update, antivirus, antispyware, and firewall software:

  A good Internet security tool is a great way to get a helping hand with automating your online safety and data integrity. With the triple protection of antivirus, antispyware, and firewall software installed (and automatically updated), you’re taking a great step in preventing a bad piece of software from infecting your computer(s).

• Check privacy settings in your social media profiles:

  LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter… they’re all being targeted by data harvesters and malware authors. Learn how to keep the information private on your social media profiles such as Twitter and Facebook. Doing so will not only prevent embarrassing status updates away from the public eye, but will also make it that much more difficult for others to siphon off your data.

• Beware all links to photos, videos, and other media:

  Stop being your own worst enemy when it comes to malware. Learn how to really read whether or not that email, tweet, or instant message contains a link to bad software. For example, if a friend, out of the blue, sends you a link to a video or picture and they ask if it’s you? Yeah, very likely your friend got hacked and their account was taken over and sent you that message to make you click on it and help spread the malware. Unless you know that the source of a message sent you a link to online media on purpose, consider all of them suspect. Clicking on every attachment or link that comes your way is a danger, and unless you’re aware of what’s happening, you’re your own worst enemy.

Using the four tips above, you can spend just a few hours (in total) to keep your online life safe and secure from prying eyes. Your Internet security can’t be 100% guaranteed because there are always more folks out there with creative (yet devious) minds who want your info, but keeping things under wraps will make it that much harder for them to be able to take advantage of you.