Protect Your Online Privacy
Edited by Leomar Umpad, Charmed, Lhynne27, Eng and 1 other
4 Parts:
Almost all manual transactions now can be done through web. Whether you are trying to enroll and pay for a college degree, or buying some snacks for your friends, or reserving a ticket for an out-of-country travel, the easiest and most convenient way is to do transactions over the net. Payment, financial and banking transactions can now be done by using a computer or any device capable of using the World Wide Web. Below are the reasons why people prefer online transactions and how to protect your online privacy.
Contents
Why People Prefer Online Transactions
- 1Online transactions do not ask you to stand and wait for long hours before you can be accommodated. This gives you more time to do other stuff.Fast and time saving.
- 2You won't have to drive some five kilometers away to pay your water bills. An online transaction gives you less sweat and frustrations from inconsiderate people during the waiting process.Easy and convenient.
- 3The time and gas spent on doing manual payments can be converted to money.Money saver.
- 4Paperless transaction is the way to go with going green. Online transactions disregards of those physical forms that you need to fill up when doing manual payments. Also, gas emission from driving your car to do the payment has an effect on the environment tooGreen.
- 5Almost all online transaction has a reporting function for you to view all of your previous transactions from a desired starting and end date. This gives you better ways of organizing and checking on bills that you may have missed to payEasier to consolidate.
Usual Data Target By Online Thieves
The convenience of online transactions lures more people to prefer it over the manual one. With that movement, malicious-intending people are also targeting to get through with your online data to use it to their own advantage.
- 1Someone who has access to your credit card data can buy anything that they want charging all to your credit card. Make sure that your credit card details (number, expiry, PIN) are kept confidential so that these will not be subjected for abuseCredit card data.
- 2Your accounts details (username, PIN, password) on your online accounts may be used for illegal activities too. Hackers will usually target emails, online banking accounts and social media account to extract data and money from youOnline accounts.
- 3Your personal data (real name, address, Social Security data, Internal Revenue data) are also target. Once obtained by ill-intended people, these can be used for a variety of illegal activitiesPersonal data.
Protecting Your Online Privacy
To help keep yourself off from online theft, make sure to follow these tips on protecting your online privacy.
- 1In your regular emails (not the business one), you can use an alias or a nickname as the sender of the mail. This way, potential hackers will not be able to easily know your real name. Do not tell information to someone you just met nor provide critical data even to friends.Do not tell personal information.
- 2Cookies are information stored on your computer for easier and faster access of your online accounts. However, this can also be a good way for a potential hacker to scavenge into and see important data that only you ought to know. Disable and delete cookies whenever you are not using your own PC or when you want to have other people use or check on your PCManage your cookies well.
- 3Do not use this for other purposes except for business and legitimate ones. If you want to subscribe to a newsletter, or want to be part of a new social media trending site, you can make another email for this purposes. You'll never know who will look into your email details.Keep your personal mail clean.
- 4The PC you are using may be monitored and these confidential information may be intercepted and may be used against you.Do not send highly confidential emails on a public PC or at work.
- 5Virtual Private Networks masks your computer IP so that it will look as if it is coming from a different address (web and physical). This service keeps potential threats from attacking or getting through your address. Make sure to choose a trusted VPN with good reviews.Use a trusted VPN service provider.
- 6When a site tells you have won an iPad or a million dollars, the best that they could give you are malware. Do not reply or bite to these baits as they only want to take advantage of youRealize that nothing is free on the internet.
- 7If your browser says that the site is untrusted, chances are, it is. Only download applications from their official sites or some trusted mirrors. Also, before installing, make sure that you scan the application first. Which brings us to the next one...Do not download anything from an untrusted site.
- 8Some of these are for free, others charge a few dollars for premium services. Always turn on your anti-virus automatic update so that you will always have the most recent virus and malware protectionHave an updated antivirus and anti- malware / spyware application.
- 9Phishing is a way of making a site look like a famous site with the purpose of getting your personal information when you log on to that phishing site. Never log-in using links provided by emails or websites. Even if that email comes from the site itself. Always see to it that you manually type the site that you want to log in to.Beware of phishing.
- 10Some of them can install malware and spyware on your PC.Never click on links or advertisements.
- 11Depending on your preference, you can update you passwords weekly, monthly or bi-monthly. Never use the same passwords for all account for more than a year. That is a very dangerous thing as a leak on one account can mean a leak to all of your accounts.Update your password.
If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.
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Article Info
Categories : Noindexed pages | Online Business & Transactions
Recent edits by: Eng, Lhynne27, Charmed
