How To Safely Browse Online.

July 18, 2024

online habits to stay on the safer side

Joseph Chisom Ofonagoro

Cybersecurity

The importance of online safety.

Nowadays, the use of websites has tremendously increased due to the fact that more and more businesses now leverage the internet to serve their customers and the need to consume online content. With this increase, hackers have discovered a goldmine – a method of attacking unsuspecting internet users. Many have fallen victim to cyber attacks while surfing the net and this is the reason awareness needs to be made on the subject of Online Safety.

In this article, you'd be educated on online threat methodologies, how to browse online while avoiding these threats and online browsing ethics.

Understanding Online Threats.

Online threats are carried out in a number of different ways, but for these threats to be successful, they have to be planned and executed using websites. Below, I'd explore how each of these methods are carried out with regard to the internet:

• Malware: A malware is a software used to perform illegal computer attacks.

Consider this scenario: A malicious website is created offering important services like downloads of files or music and good SEO practice is observed on the site, when someone searches for that content, it gets displayed on the Search Engines Results Page (SERP), if any download is made on this site, malwares hidden in the download button gets downloaded simultaneously. Don't fret! By the time you're through with this article, you would know how to protect yourself while minimising the risks involved with downloading files online.

• Phishing: A phishing is a form of attack that uses social engineering to make target victims click on malicious links leading to insecure websites, once they click on that link, it's either they are promoted by lots of pop-up ads to install malwares or they're tricked to give out sensitive data which can be used to get to them.

Consider this scenario: In a school WhatsApp group, a student sends a link to the group telling them that whoever signs up using that link will get an airtime or data subscription, once unsuspecting students click on that link, they're requested to provide their email addresses, data of birth and passwords, these information can be used to attack them or even serve as a useful tool for brute force.

• Identity theft: This is usually done with the aid of social media platforms, hackers can stalk their targets on social media, gathering information that is to be used in impersonating them online, they might even copy their posting style and go to the extent of chatting their targets to study and understand their chat patterns and use of emojis. All of this information is then combined and used to impersonate someone online.

• Data breaches: Data breaches are quite common with platforms that have vulnerabilities in the structure of their databases, hackers can use various means and tools to exploit these sites and steal data of their users and visitors.

Real World Example Of Online Threats.

An example of an online threat happened in 2019, when a YouTuber and makeup artist James Charles fell victim to an online impersonation. Fake social media accounts were created in his name with malicious purposes. These accounts used his social media content, images and videos to trick, confuse and manipulate his fans.

Misinformation was spread with the aid of these accounts and money extortions were made.

All these tarnished his public image.

Practices To Ensure Safe Browsing.

√ Updating Device's softwares and most especially, your web browsers:

Web browsers are the portals through which we connect to the internet, as portals that connect to the internet, they need to be kept constantly up to date as these updates come with new technologies that help block malwares from getting into a device.

Some of the importance of regular software updates are:

• Increased security from malicious websites.
• Advanced ad blocks (for annoying ads)
• Bugs fixes.
• Smooth UI and UX.

If your device or OS permits, you can turn on automatic updates for your web browsers.

√ Checking For Secure Connections:

HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, while HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. From the elaboration here, you can see that a website that supports an HTTPS connection is a secure website. When using a website, check if it's an HTTPS URL or an HTTP, if it's an HTTP, don't input sensitive data in those sites, though if you're using an updated browser, you'd be warned of it.

√ The Use Of Encryption and Anonymous Mediums like Virtual Private Networks (VPNs):

For the sake of anonymity and safe browsing, you may choose to use VPNs to encrypt your IP address and network packets.

√ Good authentication Ethics:

Some authentication ethics you can use is using reputable password managers like Google password manager or Apple iCloud chains.

IncorporatingMulti-factor authentications (MFA) can help your online safety while browsing.

How To Recognise Phishing.

• Check for misspellings in URLs, email addresses and even typos in contents.
• Be careful of urging messages telling you to click a link.
• Be careful of mails you can't remember signing up for.

Safe Social Media Navigation.

Social Media has been a rich source of data hackers use in exploiting their targets. This is because of the abundance of information available on the social media profiles of people. Their information is intended for their benefits and that of other social media users, but can serve as an encyclopaedia for hackers. With regard to this, how then do we protect ourselves and our data while still ensuring that we have maximum social media experience?

Utilising Privacy settings: Every social media platform has settings for those who are privacy conscious. With these settings, you can hide information like your DOB, educational and work background, or better still, you can allow only certain people to see your data, you can do this by making your profile private, and fortunately enough, the popular social media platforms allow for these features.

You can also limit who can see your posts via your privacy settings.

Applying caution with what you share online: Always remember that reconnaissance takes time and depending on the type of gain to be gotten, the hacker won't mind stalking you deeply; they can dig up past posts.

If you can, avoid sharing your precise location and always take permission before tagging people in check-ins.

Minor Protection.

Minors, sometimes won't be able to protect themselves online and they rely on adults to help them as they are easy prey to social engineering and cyber bullying.

Below are ways on how to protect them from online threats and give them a safe browsing experience:

• Make use of parental control tools and softwares.
• Give them filtered and restricted internet access. Make sure you let them understand why you're doing this.
• Monitoring their browsing activities, remember, don't intrude and let them know and consent to it
• Educating children about online risks
• Give them an environment to open up to you.

Closure

In conclusion, the internet is good, but can be very unsafe, but with good browsing ethics and knowledge, you'd be on the safer side. Always remember to back up your files as a proactive approach.