Tips For A Safe Online Experience

Using social networks and banking and shopping online have become part of our everyday lives. A generation of digital natives is living online – and offline – often without being aware of the dangers of the Internet. More than 400 million people worldwide are now on Facebook.

Children and teenagers are in particular danger of exposing personal data, such as private pictures, to the general public, and of revealing private information on social networks.

On the occasion of World Information Society Day, Kaspersky Lab provides 10 simple tips for a safe online experience.

* Keep Windows and third-party applications up-to-date.

* Back up your data regularly to a CD, DVD, or external USB drive.

* Don’t respond to email or social media messages if you don’t know the sender.

* Don’t click on email attachments or objects sent via social networks if you don’t know the sender.

* Don’t click on links in email or IM (instant messaging) messages. Type addresses directly into your web browser.

* Don’t give out personal information in response to an email, even if the email looks official.

* Shop or bank only on secure sites. These URLs start with ‘https://’ and you’ll find a gold padlock in the lower right-hand corner of your browser.

* Use a different password for each web site or service you use and make sure it consists of more than 5 characters and contains numerals, special characters and upper- and lower-case letters. Don’t recycle passwords (e.g. ‘jackie1’, ‘jackie2’) or make them easy to guess (e.g. mum’s name, pet’s name). Don’t tell anyone your passwords.

* Make sure you share your child’s online experience and install parental control software to block inappropriate content.

* Install Internet security software and keep it updated. While up-to-date protective software is essential for every Internet user, it is particularly important for those who spend a lot of time interacting with others via the Internet.