We
use internet on our smartphones, laptops and PCs. And without the internet all
the things are just empty boxes or toys for us. So when we search something on
the internet or use social media apps, do online transactions, bill payments
etc whatever we do with the help of internet on our smartphones, PCs or laptops
there are always certain risks involve that we cannot identify if we are not
alert. There are small things that we mostly use or try and these are certainly
small mistakes (with Big Impact) we should never commit on the internet. Never
ever. You might face heavy losses and much more damage that we can’t even
imagine. What are those small mistakes that we mostly do on the internet? Let’s
discuss:-
Prevention from hacking – The things we should know and apply
Digital access is
necessary in this age we almost do 75% of our important tasks on digital
platforms like paying monthly bills online to save time, registering yourself
on websites and apps, online shopping, interacting with the relatives and friends
on social network, sharing your thoughts on these platforms and not just
thoughts, images, videos, locations, plans etc, providing authentication to the
websites or apps to access your device’s contacts, gallery, notes, microphone,
camera, messages and many more things like these. Online safety is in our hands
if we are attentive we can prevent ourselves from hacking. Hackers are alert
all the time and they are ruthless once they get access to our privacy. Let us
see what are these mistakes that we make on the Internet and what should we do
and should not do on the Internet.
Unaware of the difference between http:// and https://
It’s
a most common mistake and a big one and mostly users who know a little about
the internet they never pay attention to this thing. That is the difference
between http and https. You must have noticed many times when you
opened a website or a payment gateway platform or did an online transaction or
entered data on so many online forms on websites the url of these have http://
and https:// before it. Here you must have noticed there are two types of
websites – http:// and https://. You must know the difference between these
two. Its full form is hyper text transfer protocol. It’s a protocol that
is a set of rules to transfer information/data over the internet and the second
one is hyper text transfer protocol secure means a secure protocol. So
always take notice whenever you do a transaction on a website or fill an online
form for registration always pay attention to the url of that website and look
out for https:// and if it is not https:// then go ahead at your own risk. If
you are on a non https:// website and fill some information there or do a
transaction on it, then you are vulnerable to hacking. The hackers can easily
hack your information and details and later on misuse them against you. So make
sure a website is secure and you have a hassle free experience on that website.
Apps on Facebook
Another
biggest mistake that we all make especially on facebook is the apps that ask
for our permission in exchange of providing a lucrative offer of providing the
predictions. You must have seen on facebook that you come across the apps where
they promise to tell you who are your best buddies, how you will look after 5,
10, 40 or 50 years, who love you and how much and how many people love you etc.
These types of apps you will find usually on facebook and your friends use them
or recommend them to you. You click on that app link that is shared to you and
it asks for your permission and authentication and you allow them to know all
about you and that information goes directly to the developer of that app, you
become vulnerable to hacking. There’s a mutual happiness, you become happy to
know that these many people love you and how you will look after 5 years or 10
years and many more such baseless predictions to make you happy and grab your
attention and they become happy to get access to your private information.
Whenever you give permission on facebook to any app make sure you read what
information it is going to ask you like phone number, contact details,
locations, groups, events, hometowns, birthdays, notes and other private information.
Never allow these in future. As facebook already is in news for data leakage of
millions of people around the world, so it becomes necessary to be alert and
never provide the very personal details on facebook or any other social networking
application. It’s unnecessary.
Inattentively watching the 18+ content
Everyone
falls into this trap specially the kids or teenagers mostly commit these
mistakes, 18+ content. Though people are smart these days they watch the porn
content in an incognito window now but majority of people still access those
links on the main browser. This saves cookies in their system and it leads to
the type of ads they are going to see whenever they’ll be browsing the general
content on a browser like booking tickets, reading news etc, this becomes so
embarrassing when some family member is browsing along with you and you get to
see those ads on the side windows, pop-up windows and you can’t do anything
about it. So it’s better to switch to the incognito mode to access this type of
content. It is also not so secure though but at least you are not enabling them
to save cookies on your system hence saving you the embarrassment and the
vulnerability of hacking too or better, use a VPN to access the 18+ content if
possible.
How secure is the Incognito mode?
Whatever
content you watch on the internet on the incognito mode of your browser is not
secure as it is assumed. When you go Incognito, the perk you have is that the
information you shared during that session or time will immediately be erased
the moment you click the cross button of that browser. You closed the window
and the cookies are gone. But that doesn’t mean that you are not being tracked.
Your IP address is visible and the hackers and they can easily do their job for
the entire time you are using the incognito window. So Hacking is possible
in the Incognito mode but that doesn’t mean we should not use the Incognito
mode. Install a good anti-virus, anti-malware software in your PC.
Managing passwords
Any
type of account can be hacked easily if you commit this mistake. You login to a
website and enter your username and password and you never memorize all the passwords
for all the different websites so to escape this you use same password for all
the different websites and save yourself from memorizing all. In this case if
any one account gets hacked, all the others can easily be targeted. All the
other accounts can easily be hacked. To make account on a website or register on
a website always use a different password and never use the same password for
them. Either jumble the words and add a new one in between or use a different
one and note it down somewhere. Either for facebook, twitter, instagram, gmail,
yahoo, bing, quora etc. Write them down in a diary or save them somewhere in drafts
in an email. Yes, browsers also ask to save the passwords for you so it saves
your time every time you login, it just automatically do the task for you but
what if someone is on a hacking spree and steals your browser data like cookies
or sessions? They may be encrypted but you never know. Or better use a password
manager to do this job for you.
Always use two factor authentication
We
are too lazy to not use the two factor authentication. We use Internet banking,
social networking accounts like facebook, whatsapp, email accounts, online bank
account and if you don’t want them to be hacked so always use two factor
authentication, all the data and info that is important and personal to you can
be at risk as the hackers out there are constantly upgrading so you should also
be. Use the best possible practices provided by the app or website to be secure
online. People who use internet banking and don’t use two factor authentications
it becomes easy for the hacker in hacking their accounts.
Never share Live location on Social Networking apps
Almost
all of us do this, especially Girls mostly do this. You are enjoying with your
friends having a good time watching movie or dining in a restaurant or shopping
in a shopping mall. That’s all fine until you share this info with your friends
on social network and that too with the exact location. That’s a very big
mistake. You must be careful in doing this, especially girls. If someone is
spying on you he/she is quick to take action on this probably with bad
intentions. So if you want your friends to know about your things then share it
after you return home. Or share it with friends only option and never on the
public option. Never share live locations.
Free Wi-Fi
Our
generation is quick to use the things that are free to use. So when people
connect through the free wifi in public places they are vulnerable to hacking. The
hackers mostly do this. They provide free wifi in the public places and if
someone uses that network his personal details from his smartphone and laptop
can be easily accessed and that hacker can use them for his own good in some
way. So the free Wi-Fi mostly is a trap by the hackers or for the hackers if
provided by the Govt or private entity at Airports, Shopping malls, Cafes,
Restaurants, Hotels etc. Though data packs are affordable nowadays but still it
is highly recommended to not use free Wi-Fi. Nothing is free in this age, a
price is always paid.
Online dating apps or websites
It’s for the youngsters who use online dating
apps or websites. They tell you that you will get a companion or a partner for
dating in just a snap of a finger you just need to register here and you are
ready to go. Do it but never blindly trust the girl or boy out there because
you never know who actually is behind that id. They are mostly fraud. People
share their private info or pictures and then the real game starts; they trap
you and probably blackmail you, mostly for extortion. Anything can happen on
the web, so be careful in using these types of apps.
Sharing Pictures online publicly
This
again is common in Girls. Social networking sites like facebook, instagram are
widely used throughout the globe but in some cases girls publicly share their pictures
and it is definitely not a good idea.
The thing is that if someone is prying on you or has a beef with you or
if someone is jealous of you or spying on you or stalking you, you are making
their job easy he/she can misuse those pictures or videos easily for their own
good.
These
are a few things that we must take notice and immediately take action to
prevent ourselves from hacking. We all have very important things/data online
on various platforms and it is in our hands how we protect ourselves from these
type threats and dangers. Using and app and web service is fun and easy and so should
be the preventive measures that we must take. Hacking is a serious threat and
we all must be very careful in providing our details while on the internet.
Make it a habit to look out for the precautions and safety before entering an
app or a website for shopping, payments and registrations. Use VPN, 2-way
authentications, password managers, maintain a log on a physical notepad, and
never provide contact details on a social networking platform and all the other
things that are mentioned in the post above. Safety is in your hands so be
careful and enjoy the digital world. Thanks for reading!
