Staying safe when you're online is more important than ever. These handy tips allow you to avoid its dodgy bits.
Thanks to the ubiquity of internet connected devices, we’re online more often and in more places than ever. But there is a dark side to this world: cyber criminals want our money, our identities and our information, and they’re often successful in getting them. We’ll show you how to stay safe and cover your tracks when you're online. Of course, you don’t need to cover your tracks if you don’t make any in the first place. Using a PC in an internet cafe is a secure way to browse the internet, providing you don't log in to any sites. Having to go to a specific place to access the internet kind of defeats the point of mobile, unlimited internet access though. Fortunately, most browsers come with incognito or private browsing modes, which mean anything you enter is wiped when the window is closed down.
In Internet Explorer, pressing [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[P] opens an In Private window, while [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[N] opens an Incognito window in Chrome. These modes are particularly useful if you don't want sensitive information such as passwords to be stored by your browser. They’ re also useful for checking out suspicious internet links as they prevent websites accessing personal information.
However, incognito modes won’t stop spyware or malware accessing your keystrokes or passwords. For these you need a robust antivirus package that's kept up to date. It’s a good idea to run scans regularly to stop nasties getting in, and to use any identity protection tools included with the software.
Google’s internet searches tend to deliver the best results, but at a price the company traclm the things you search for so it can deliver relevant adverts to you. If you’re not happy about this, you can use Duck Duck Go’s (http://duckduckgo.com) search to find what you’re looking for without being tracked. We’ve found it to be as accurate and useful as Google.
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