Top 10 Ways to Be Safe On The Web
By Sergio Woods
1. Never have an internet connection w/o the presence of an ACTIVE Firewall andAnti-Virus.
* Of course it may be a little quicker to access your online banking when your trusty IE browser automatically inputs your password, but those virus developers love to make those programs designed to sniff through your cookies to find that good ole' username and password for their own ventures.
2. Use Firefox or any browser other than Internet Explorer if possible.
* Virus developers focus on distributing their projects to as many computers as possible
* Roughly 79% (http://www.upsdell.com/BrowserNews/stat_trends.htm) of surfers use Internet Explorer which makes IE the target browser for virus developers.
3. Don't have your browser remember any passwords.
* I know it's pretty cool and quick to have your browser automatically put those passwords in for you but those virus developers are pretty sneaky these. Those nice little cookie sniffing programs can possibly sniff out the remembered passwords.
4. Never input private information (Real name, address, credit card info) into a site where there is no security lock present.
5. Never give out your usernames and/or passwords to anyone.
* When talking to people in chat rooms also be careful not to give anyone your real name or any revealing information.
6. Try not to use the same username and passwords for every login you have.
* It is much safer to use one username and password for you Online Banking, another username and password for your E-mail, another username and password for you myspace login and so on.
* Using different usernames and passwords for your Online Accounts prevents hackers from possibly getting one username and password and logging in to all your accounts with that one username and password
7. Never download anything that you haven't researched first.
* Downloading something you know nothing about is a very serious risk to your computer. Make sure to do a quick Google search on any program you plan on downloading to see what other people have to say about it first.
8. When downloading and installing programs, don't just install everything it tells you to in the installation.
* Be sure NOT to install anything you may not want (such as yahoo toolbars, google toolbars, etc.) because they could come with unwanted adware or spyware that can be very annoying and possibly hazardous to your computer.
9. Always clear you Browsing History when finished surfing the web.
* Delete cookies, history, temp files, form data, and passwords
Firefox has a great feature where it can ask you to clear you Browsing History every time you close the browser.
10. Last but definitely not least, NEVER MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO MEET ANYONE (in person) WHOM YOU MET IN A CHAT ROOM, MYSPACE, ETC.
* This is very important for your own safety. Especially if you are under 18, but I personally don't recommend anyone of any age to perform this type of arrangement. The only instance where I see that this may be appropriate is where you join an online dating community and you want to meet someone you met through the community. I have never been a part of any of these communities but I know that most of them are pretty strict about protecting their users, but by all means BE CAREFUL.
* Parents please pay close attention to your children's relationships with the people they meet on communities such as Myspace. From kids running away to be with people they met on the popular online communities, to pranks going too far and resulting in suicides, it all happens on Myspace and other popular online communities. Of course it is not the communities' faults, but the careless people that your children could be associated with within the community is by far to blame.
My name is Sergio Woods and I've been studying computers for over 7 years now. I have a great deal of knowledge in aspects ranging from Internet Administration to software programming to hardware and component installation. In my studies I have come to realize that there are very general things even the most casual computer user should know how to do in order to keep their computer running at its peak performance.
I feel the need to share my knowledge with any and everybody who has the desire I do to learn everything there is to know about the most revolutionary entity in our society. Also I've realized that there are a lot of people charging people an arm and a leg to give very common computer advise which is not worth that much at all. Sometimes people just need a little push in the right direction, and Computer Maintain.com is here to give you that push. Remember your comments and recommendations are greatly appreciated.
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