3 Safety Suggestions I Need To Follow

I have learned a lot about safety on the web this week. In the past, I believed if no one could see what I was doing, then I was completely safe. I didn't know that someone on the same open network could actually spy and look through my computer, They can collect password, emails, and your identity. Scary. I read through the articles in my CIS 178 class and was very surprised how much I can reduce or even prevent these thing from happening.

1. Using Public Wi-Fi

I wouldn't think twice about using the free Internet at Starbucks. I mean it was great... and free! Getting all my bills paid online, checking bank accounts, shopping, etc. I had no idea that my personal and financial information was out there for the world to see. After reading about the dangers on http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-avoid-being-hacked-2015-4, I decided to change my ways. I will no longer do my banking, shopping, or even read my email on a public Wi-Fi source. I will do everything from home on secured Wi-Fi, or as secured as I can get.






2. Suspicious Emails and Texts

I actually practiced my safety today. A friend of mine sent a link over text message. In one of the articles I read, people are gaining access to phone numbers and using them to text worms. I instantly text her back and asked if she sent the link. In the past, I would have opened it with out thinking twice. I have also done this with emails. "Click on the link to find out" was a big eye catcher for me. In the link below... if you dare to click... you can see a few of these scams. Some of them are asking for money or say that you are preapproved for a credit card. I received an email the other day saying that I won a free cruise. I noticed that words were misspelled which made my red flags go up. I Googled the company which came up with quite a few reports that it was a scam. You've got to be smarter than the people who are trying to scam you. Don't open the link. Check to see if you know the sender of the email, and you might even want to email the sending to confirm that they did send that email to you. Better safe than sorry.
http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/scamsandidentitytheft/ss/top10inetscams.htm#step-heading






3. Different Passwords

I didn't think about how if I was hacked, and they gained access to my emails, they could also find where I bank, my amazon account name, my school id... which all had the same password. I had to change things. I switched all of my passwords so none of them would be the same. If they hacked into one piece of information, they could not use the same password for another location. As time consuming as this was, I did it for my own safety. To read more about different passwords, click http://www.businessinsider.com/justin-schuh-google-chrome-security-interview-2015-3.