5 Reasons To Keep Yourself Protected Online
We do so much online these days that it can easily become something we take for granted and don’t really think much of anymore. After all, who would bat an eyelid at making a purchase through an online store or booking tickets to an event through a website? Who would think it was strange to do online banking or pay a credit card through an app?
The problem is that the more used to these things we get, the more dangerous they can become. When we’re no longer thinking things through, and we’re not taking the proper precautions, we run the risk of cybercriminals discovering all our sensitive information, from bank account numbers to our full names and addresses, and that can spell untold trouble.
It’s far better to remember that being online comes with risks, and that protecting ourselves when we use the internet, no matter what we might be using it for, is by far the best thing to do. If you don’t think it’s an issue, here are some of the reasons to keep yourself protected online; once you know what the dangers are, you’ll be happy to put safety measures in place, and you’ll remember to do it no matter what. Read on to find out more.
Protecting Your Personal Information
We touched on this idea in the introduction, and now we can go into it in more detail. Your personal information is a treasure trove that cybercriminals are desperately trying to get to. If they do, they’ll find your name, address, tax details, banking records, and plenty more besides, and armed with that information, they can steal your identity and your money, ruin your credit score, and cause you a great deal of emotional distress – and more.
By putting a good security system in place and knowing what to look out for when you’re online, you can keep yourself a lot safer, and not have all this worry to have to deal with. Some of the things you can do include having strong passwords that you change on a regular basis, using two-factor authentication, and being careful about where you share your personal details, and with whom. Plus, don’t forget that all the time technology is advancing, hackers are evolving, and there are always new things to watch out for, like deep fake scams, for example. Keeping up to date with these things might not be pleasant, but it could help you hugely in the long run.
Keeping Your Professional Reputation
If you run a business, you’ll have even more to look out for, and it could be that you’re leaving yourself and your company vulnerable without realising it. Today, many people start side hustles and small, home-based businesses, and they often use the same passwords, networks, and even bank accounts for their business and their personal lives. This is convenient and makes things much simpler, but imagine if a cybercriminal were to find out your details – not only would your personal finances be at risk, but your business as a whole would be too.
Although it’s your finances that you might think about first if this were to happen, the damage to your business’s reputation might be the worst thing of all; having a good reputation will help you grow your business, but a bad one will do the opposite, and you’ll lose even more money and sales. Careless online behaviour, like sharing the wrong content or using weak passwords or even getting caught by a phishing scam, can cast a long shadow over your business reputation.
Perhaps you don’t own a business, so this isn’t something you’re too worried about. That’s fine, but if you don’t own a business, you’ll be likely to work for someone or be looking for work. Getting into heated online arguments, having a bad credit score (in some sectors), or not being careful about what you’re posting online can all have a damaging effect on your career and your career prospects.
In other words, if you want a good professional reputation, whether you run your own business or you work for someone else, keep yourself protected online and always think twice about anything you post in case it comes back to haunt you later on.
Curating Your Digital Footprint
Even if you’re not sure what they are, you’ll more than likely have heard of ‘cookies’ when it comes to being online. Cookies are small files that get downloaded to your computer every time you visit a site, and these cookies help those sites remember your preferences and what you were looking at. The idea is that they can then be used to advertise to you in a way that you’ll be interested in, showing you products and services you’ll want to buy.
This can be useful, especially if you’re looking for something specific and you might come back another time – the cookies will ensure you’re directed in the right way to buy whatever it is you need.
If you want to make sure the advertising you get really is relevant and not something random that you don’t want (which can be highly irritating), it’s best to stick to searching for things that you do actually want; this is yet another way of protecting yourself.
Not only will this mean you are targeted in the right way when it comes to advertising, but it’s also a timesaver. We’ve all been in situations when we’re meant to be doing something but got distracted going down ‘rabbit holes’ online. If you can remember that everything you click on or look at will be advertised back to you, you might be more wary about what you take notice of.
If this is a concern, there are ways you can stop being tracked through cookies, such as using certain search engines, for example. It’s best to ask an expert for help if this is something you want to get more information on.
Looking After Others
How much information about yourself is there online? The answer is probably more than you think, and the real issue is that it won’t all relate to you. When you’re posting your own content on social media, for example, you’re in control – to some extent (people can, of course, view your photos and take them to use for whatever purposes they want, so again, it’s worth considering whether social media is something you definitely want to be a part of). However, what about the other people in those photos or videos? It might be that they have no say over whether or not their images are posted online, and that could be a problem – they won’t have that control, just as you don’t have control if someone posts an image of you.
This means that all those people we have personal relationships with might be in danger of a cyberattack because of something they didn’t even know about. Even if taking care of yourself online doesn’t seem like something you want to do, it’s important to think of others, and put measures in place to keep them safe too.
Setting A Positive Example
Following on from the point above, another reason to keep yourself protected online is to set a positive example to others. Think about your children, for example; they’ll need to learn how to stay safe online, and who better to learn from than you? Or how about your employees or colleagues? Or older family members who might not be so internet-savvy as it’s not something they’ve grown up with?
The more you can do to protect yourself, the more those other people in your life who look up to you and ask you for advice can learn, and the safer they’ll be online too.
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