Are you sure that your data and your family’s data are safe? Understanding how Google apps work is vital to ensuring that your details and files are safe online. Your data could be easily exposed with the wrong click therefore it’s vital that you know how to protect your data online by tightening up your Google security.
There is no guarantee that your details and files will be 100 percent protected, but they could be protected to a large extent by investing a little time in learning how to protect them. You can limit data exposure as you use the internet, visit social network sites by following a simple piece of advice.
Online Password
I’m sure most of us are tired regarding the number of passwords that needs to be created for various accounts. The temptation is high to just create one password or similar passwords and use it on multiple accounts, this is nothing but a dangerous move. Hackers needs to have a hard time guessing your password therefore password must be very strong. Using names and date of birth as passwords is a high risk.
Below are tips that will help you to create a Strong Password
- Password must be Unique
If you’ve created lots of accounts online each password for each account must be unique, this is even more vital for your emails and bank accounts. You can be rest assured that online security for banking services is very high but if you use the same password for your online banking for another website with less or no security, if Hackers gain access to that website, they are most likely going to gain access to your bank account. It’s common practice for Hackers to detect a password from a compromised website and try them randomly on secured sites.
- Password must be Complicated
Don’t use password that are very easy to guess, name, email address, date of birth and address are your personal information and must never become your passwords. I have a WordPress blog and what a Hacker did was to use the email address for that blog trying to hack the blog. At a point he tried the WordPress blog email name without adding the address, an example is 123@gmail.com so he tried 123 to log in, therefore it’s advisable that you create complicated passwords.
- The Longer the Password, the Safer
It’s more difficult to crack a long password compared to a short one, the minimum requirement for safety is eight characters. It will be safer if you go for something like ten characters, the mathematics behind this is that there are more possible combinations of ten letters and numbers in comparison to eight letters and numbers, this equals to more safety. You need to be careful if you’re signing up to a website and they require less than eight characters. This doesn’t mean that such website is not legit, but it could be that such website might not be aware that a minimum of eight characters means good security.
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- Use a mixture of letters, numbers, and symbols
If you’re creating an account, most websites will insist that you use a mixture of letters, numbers, and symbols. This makes it more difficult for Hackers to get a hold of your password, a capital letter will even be required on some websites. This password A1GoogleBoP is more secured than a1googlebop. Experts claims that variations rise to over six quadrillion for an eight-character password which is more secured.
- Password Manager is a good Idea
Most of us are guilty of writing down a couple of passwords in a notebook, the most dangerous one is, people who will compile a list of passwords on a sheet of paper. This is a very risky method because of the exposure attached. What if you lose the sheet of paper, accidentally drops into water? The best solution for this problem is to have Password Manager, Password Manager allows you to store your password by locking them in a file on your device. You only need to remember the password that will give you access to the other Passwords stored in the Password Manager. I use Password Manager
- Enable/Disable Cookies in Chrome
Most people’s encounter about cookie are negative due because of the perception attached to cookies, this article explains why they are useful for internet browsers. To disabled cookies in a chrome web browser, point your cursor to the top right corner of the window.
- Select Settings
- Scroll to the bottom
- Click advanced setting
- Now click site settings in the Privacy section and then cookies
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HTTP Cookie
A website will send a small piece of data which will be stored on a user’s computer via the browser at the time of browsing known as HTTP cookie. They are known as reliable mechanism for website to remember useful information or to record the user’s activities. You can disable cookie if you don’t want a website to tract your online activities.
What are Cookies?
Whenever you visit a website, it will ensure that a cookie or HTML cookie which are small files is stored temporarily on your system. The main purpose is for website to recognise individuals’ computers. Cookie stores information about users by collecting data about users, browsers gives you the capacity to block cookies on your system based on personal preferences.
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The downside is a lot of website needs cookies to function properly, if you block cookie this will most likely impact your browsing experience. You don’t need to be afraid of cookie, they offer the internet better performance.
To allow both first- and third-party cookies, you must set the local data to allow both. If you’re only interested in first party cookies, check the box next to “Block all third-party cookies without exception.”
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- Cyber Bulling
The whole world went digital so does cyber bulling. It’s no longer confined to the playground or classroom; its presence is heavily felt online via medium such as:
- Text messages
- Emails
- Social Media
- Other Online Access
Dealing with a bully in real life is a real challenge but dealing with them online is much easier. Don’t hesitate to block anyone who bullies you on Social Media Network. Don’t accept a friend’s request from someone who bullies you offline. Bullies could go as far as creating an account in your name pretending to be you, if you come across such, report this straightaway to the network’s administrator.
- How to deal with Phishing?
Phishing is defined as a process of finding vital or useful information through trickery methods. Vital information includes:
- Pin Numbers
- Password
- Usernames
A trickery method about phishing is for spammers to create fake social media profile which looks authentic. If you accidentally input your email and password, the Spammer will store your details. Once your details are stored, it will be used to gain access to your account and messages including links that will be sent to your friends or your contact advising them to check out videos or products. If you’re a victim, you’ll have to change your password and run an anti-virus software on your system. It’s worth speaking to an IT Guru if you’re not sure the problem is completely resolved.
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Parents protecting their kids from Social Networking Sites
Parents do feel the pressure of protecting their children on the internet most especially social networking sites. Children under the age of 13 are not allow by many social media networks to create an account. Some children will create an account using false details, you want to ensure your child doesn’t fall into this category. Banning a child from going online might not be the best approach since you can’t monitor them twenty-four seven. The best approach will be to educate your child about various risk social media sites has to offer.
Do your Investigation
Education breeds awareness, visit various social networking sites and learn about their functionality. Parents who are online themselves will have a good knowledge about protecting their children. This applies mostly to parents who are not on any social media networking sites, the starting point for protection will be getting your children to educate you about social networking sites. This will kick off the idea about how to protect your child.
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Profile Account
It’s advisable to create your own social media account on the same platform with your children. This will help you to monitor their activities or on the other hand watch your kids as they go about their businesses on social media.
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Privacy Settings
Social networking sites offers different levels of privacy settings for various reasons. Privacy settings will ensure you have more control over your account, for instance you can decide if you want your personal information to be available to everybody or selected few. You should be aware that privacy setting defers for different networking sites.
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Safety Tips for the Internet
- Ensure your kids are not publishing vital information like location, email address, phone number and date of birth online.
- You should monitor their activities regarding images and messages they posted online. Content shared online could be difficult to get removed most especially if it’s gone viral.
- Build a good relationship with your kids so that if they come across anything degrading online, you will be their first point of contact. Any offensive contact must be reported to the site’s administrator, doing this should be straight forward with a single click on a link.
- You should escort your child to any location if they are meeting up with an online friend. This offers the opportunity for you to get to know the kind of people your children relate to online.
- Educate your kids to be weary of any online offers that comes with lots of attraction. They shouldn’t be eager to click on a link that promises heaven on earth.
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Dealing with Facebook nuisance
Facebook nuisance comes in the form of:
- Rude messages
- Unwanted messages
- Phishing messages
- And others
The best way to handle this problem is to block this nuisance by following the steps below
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- Go to the account menu at the top of the profile, select privacy settings. Scroll down to block people and App and select manage blocking
- Input the details of the person you’re trying to block such as name and email address and click block. The nuisance will get the bad news of being blocked.
- If you are having problem using the method above, go to the person’s profile (timeline) then select report/block and then select the nuisance from the drop-down menu at the top of the page.
In conclusion
I hope this article is of great value to your security online, a lot of people do not educate themselves about online security until they become a victim. It’s better to have security measure in place rather than having to learn about it later when you become a victim.