The internet is undoubtedly a very dangerous place where you need to protect yourself so that your computer doesn’t get infected by a virus or, in a worse case scenario, lose the money in your account. Here are some tips to look out for.
A good antivirus is the alpha and omega
The cornerstone of protection on the Internet is having a good antivirus on your computer, which can do a tremendous amount of work. Antivirus programs work by scanning new programs or files before they are opened. This allows the antivirus to detect any malicious code that may be present and take action to remove it. While this basic principle remains the same, the ways in which antiviruses operate have evolved over time to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of cyber threats.
In order to best protect your computer, it is important to keep your antivirus program up-to-date with the latest definitions. Additionally, you should make sure to run regular scans of your system and be cautious when opening email attachments or clicking on links from unknown sources. A good antivirus should include:
- Provide reliable detection of viruses and malware that are malicious and eliminate false alarms
- Be easy to use – computer security involves technical complexity and technical jargon, but these should not be a barrier for the user
- Be able to remove the malware found without problems, i.e. ensure that the files are shredded (simple deletion is not secure)
- Provide firewall, virtual private network, antispam, DNS protection as well as system optimization tools.
- Last one, be affordable for most users. It is sometimes said that quality comes at a price, but in this case a good antivirus should be affordable for less creditworthy clients.
Don’t click on strange links
Another important factor is not to click on every link you find on the internet. You may be redirected to a site that is infected with a virus, which will enter your computer. Most often we can encounter this risk on social networks, especially on Facebook and Instagram, where unknown profiles write to us almost every day with a text and a seemingly fake link to click on. It also happens often when we want to find photos/videos or other content from a famous person on the internet, which is for example paid on OnlyFans or Patreon but we want to find it for free. In this case, it’s better to search for free OnlyFans accounts on authoritative sites and see if your favourite singer, actor, entertainer or someone else is providing premium content for free. Searching for this type of free content on less trustworthy sites may not pay off and you may get a virus on your computer. For this reason, be careful on the internet what content you click on and if you are suspicious of the URL or if someone you don’t correspond with on FB just sent you a link, definitely don’t click on it.
Do not share your personal details or bank cards
Don’t share your personal information with strangers. It often happens that you get a strange email asking for personal information from the person on the other side of your computer. Never give out your personal information to just anyone on the internet. Your personal information can then be used for illegal purposes later on and you won’t even know about it. The same applies with credit card details, in which case it could be an email asking you to send money and he will send you money in return later. It is best not to reply to such emails at all and to delete them straight away. Also, don’t even share your card details somewhere on the internet or be careful what e-shop you shop at. It could also be that the eshop is not real and is just trying to get your card details.
Internet security has been a hot topic for several years and people should constantly educate themselves about it, because threats are waiting for us at almost every corner and it’s up to us whether we get caught or not. However, as long as you follow at least these basic tips, you should be relatively safe on the Internet.
