FiveTipsforStayingSafeOnlineYoulogintoyouronlineemailaccount,andorganisethedaysworkintoneatfolders.Someoftheseemailscontainclientinformation,othershavepersonaldata.Yousurftoanothersite,anddoaquirkypersonalitytestthatrequiresyourpersonalemailaddress.Itstheendofthemonth,soyoulogintoyourbankaccountandpaythebills.Abookthatyouvehadyoureyeonisonsaleonlinesoyoupaywithyourcreditcardandrequestittobedeliveredtoyourhomeaddress.Inthespaceofaboutanhouryouhavegivenupyourname,address,dateofbirth,bankaccountdetails,andcreditcardnumberstothepervasivegeniusoftheWorldWideWeb.Howsecureisalltheinformationyouvejustsentoutonlineandhowcanyoumakesureitssafe?Checkthatsitesaresecure.Lookoutforwebsitesthathavethegoldenlockicon,displayedeithernexttotheURLatthetopofthebrowser,oratthebottomofthescreen.Websitesthatstartwithwebsitesandthereforesecure.Encryptedwebsitesmeanthattheinformationyousendovertheinternetisgarbledandthereforenotaseasilyaccessibletocybercrooks.BecarefulwithpersonalinformationTreatyou rpersonalinformationlikethevirtualkeystoyouridentity.Athiefwhohasyourfullname,addressanddateofbirthcouldopenacreditcardaccountinyourname,destroyingyourcredithistoryintheprocess.Donotpostyourfullname,mothersmaidenname,birthdateorpersonaladdressonpublicspaceslikeforums,chatroomsornetworkingsiteslikeFacebook,MySpaceandTwitter.Neverrespondtoemailsthatrequireyoutoreplywithpersonalinformation,anddontlogintoonlineaccountsfromlinkssenttoyouinemails.Manyemailsthatpurporttobefromyourbankoryourcreditcardcompanyareoftenjustphishingscamsouttoobtainyourinformation.ChooseagoodpasswordItissurprisinglyeasytohackintoanonlineaccount.Mostpeoplehaveonepasswordthattheyuseforalltheiraccounts.Astrongpasswordthatisdifficulttoguessatisagoodsteptopreventingonlinefraud.Chooseamemorableonethatcontainsbothnumbersandletters.Anexampleofagoodpasswordforafoosballfanwouldbefoo5ballwhichisalphanumericalandiseasytoremember.Updateyouranti-virussoftwareVirusesmutateatanalarminglyfastrateonline.Ensurethatyouranti- virussoftwareisupdatedandthatavirusscanisperformedeverymonthortwoaspartofyourcomputermaintenanceprocedures.Anout-of-dateanti-virusprogramisuselessagainstinvasivevirtualviruses.EnableyourfirewallThefirewallisyourfirstlineofdefenceagainstanyunwantedintrusions.Itprotectsyourcomputerandnetworkagainstunauthorisedaccessfrombotsandvirusesontheinternet.WindowsXPcomputershaveafirewallbuiltintothesystemandmanyanti-virusprogramswillhaveafirewallbundledwiththem.
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