Tag Archives: Family Safety

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Eight everyday security tips for the whole family

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From the youngest to the oldest in your household, every member of the family uses the Internet and apps to inform, entertain and maintain contact with their loved ones. This Sunday, May 15th, is International Day of Families and to celebrate, here are some basic tips to keep your family safe while navigating the web.

Updates

Make sure that your operating system and programs or applications are updated properly. Manufacturers often fix vulnerabilities that are appearing, but the only way to make sure your software is “patched-up” is by using the latest version.

Email Attachments

If you get an email that looks suspicious, do not open it until you are sure that the sender is who he claims to be. If you receive unknown messages, do not download the attachments! Even those documents that appear harmless (such as a Word or a spreadsheet) can hide malware. A simple photo might not be what it seems.

Public Wi-Fi

Prevent connecting to public Wi-Fi networks.  Any cyber-delincuent  could use the network as a trap to access your device and steal your information.  If you must use a public network, you should follow these basic security tips.

Online Shopping

While searching for the “best deals” online, we can end up on some unreliable and unknown websites.  Stay away from them! Always verify that the website address matches the webite you are trying to access and that it starts with “https”.  If you always buy on reputable website you will avoid greater evils.

Social Networks

Do not accept friend requests from strangers or allow your children to do so. Try not to share your personal data (like your phone number or address)across platforms like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, because you can never be certain who is on the other side or spying your conversations. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Anti-virus

A good anti-virus is the best barrier that you can put between your computer and possible cyber-attackers. Each day, new vulnerabilities are discovered. Only the security experts are aware of them and can update the protection measures when there is a threat.

Parental Control

There are always threats on the network targeted towards young internet users.  Educate the children in your family about proper internet usage and how to recognize unusual behavior.  Teach them what they should do in a difficult situations and always install a good parental control system, like Panda solutions.

Keep Them Little

It is normal, if not inevitable, that your children use social networks or messaging programs like WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Facebook Messenger to speak with their friends. These services can be beneficial or entertaining, but are not 100% danger-free.  Beware of cyber-bullying and the danger-strangers that lurk behind the disguise of a screenname. And for those older members of your family, you should educate them about the dangers of sexting.

 

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Cyber-crooks can use your wireless mouse and keyboard!

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wireless-keyboard

Remember how the problems you had with the nightmare of tangled cables going in and out of your computer went away the day you discovered wireless devices? In fact, you swore never to touch a wired device again after buying a keyboard and mouse capable of communicating with your computer without needing to be physically connected to it. You even went as far as to replace your laptop’s touchpad with a mouse that communicates with your computer via a small USB connector as if by magic.

Well, we have news for you: A group of security experts have discovered that these devices, as convenient as they are, are not very safe. Cyber-criminals can take control of users’ computers remotely by exploiting flaws found in wireless keyboards and mice from seven major manufacturers (Logitech, Dell, Microsoft, HP, Amazon, Gigabyte and Lenovo).

The security hole affects millions of devices that use chips sold by the Norwegian firm Nordic Semiconductor. These chips allow devices to establish a short-wave radio communication with the target computer. Although these chips are capable of encryption, they require that vendors write their own firmware to implement that encryption and secure the connection between computers and peripheral devices. However, many companies don’t take the precaution to encrypt those communications.

And even if they did, it wouldn’t be much use. The companies that do encrypt their communications do not properly authenticate communicating devices, allowing rogue devices to inject unencrypted keystrokes over the same connection. Actually, the security experts that unveiled this vulnerability found several flaws in the firmware of the keyboards and mice that use those chips.

crazyradio-usb

A simple and affordable USB adapter with an antenna and a laptop was all they needed to demonstrate that it is possible to interfere with the radio protocol used by these devices to communicate with their USB dongle and send commands to the target computer. To do that, the target computer must be relatively close to the antenna, although they have been able to control Lenovo wireless devices from 180 meters away.

So, any attacker that used the method discovered by these researchers could take over a computer without laying a finger on its mouse or keyboard. The commands sent by the hacker would be interpreted by the computer as coming from the legitimate device.

Now, what could an attacker that took advantage of this flaw actually do on the affected system? Nothing much, really. Even if they managed to access the targeted computer, they wouldn’t be able to see its screen, so even unlocking the computer would be a difficult task not knowing the relevant password.

According to these experts, if the computer were actually unlocked, the cyber-crook would be able to download malware that could allow them to take full control of the computer.

However, the attacker would only have the same privileges as the legitimate user. If the computer were in an office, for example, they probably wouldn’t have the necessary permissions to install malicious programs on it.

keysweeperA Logitech spokesperson has already claimed that the “vulnerability would be complex to replicate” and “is therefore a difficult and unlikely path of attack.”  Despite that, the company has decided to develop a firmware update for the affected devices.

Similarly, Lenovo has announced that it will give users the option to replace the affected devices.  Microsoft, however, has simply stated that it will only launch an update as soon as possible.

This is not the first time that researchers warn of the dangers of wireless keyboards and mice. Last year, renowned security expert Samy Kamkar developed Key Sweeper, a keylogger hidden in a fake USB charger that logged the keystrokes typed on any Microsoft wireless keyboard.  With the help of an Arduino board, anyone could develop this keylogger software and find out what others were typing.

This research is extremely significant as it demonstrates that millions of devices are vulnerable. Taking into account that it may encourage cyber-criminals to start doing some tests, it may be a good idea to start updating your devices’ firmware whenever possible, and even replace vulnerable keyboards and mice with wired peripherals or, better still, wireless devices that communicate with computers via Bluetooth.

Bear this in mind, however: as cyber-crooks need to be close to the target device to carry out this attack, it seems logical that they set their eyes on companies rather than home users. But don’t lower your guard: prevention is better than cure…

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Honey, they’ve hacked the TV: The security callenges facing Smart TVs.

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remote control

If Facebook and many more Internet platforms are capable of showing personalized ads on your computer according to your online behavior, why shouldn’t the same be true for our smart TVs? Paul McMillan, a German security expert, has proven that smart TVs are so smart that they can analyze the programs or films that you watch so as to be able to choose ads that might interest you.

McMillan realized this while watching the film Inglorious Basterds on his Samsung device. A few minutes after starting, a pop-up appeared which invited him to join the army.

It isn’t the first time that someone has reported that these intelligent devices display publicity adapted to each user. However, to know their preferences, they need to analyze videos that are watched every day. So will they install a system to recognize the different content being watched?

The German investigator wanted to check if the ad continued to be shown despite changing the origin of the video. He used the same platform (via Amazon), but connected his computer to the television and watched the film from there. The pop-up returned again, meaning that the process depending on Samsung and not on the content provider.

Consumer Reports, which tests and analyzes new products, has already warned that smart televisions use an automatic content recognition system, which monitors videos that are watched, be it from YouTube or on DVD.

The companies could be sending this information to third-parties, which could include consultancy and publicity firms, who are both very interested in creating personalized advertising.

In general, it’s not businesses such as Samsung or LG who do this sneaky surveillance. What they do with user information should appear in their use and privacy policy, although they know that not many people bother to read it, and those that do most likely won’t understand a lot of the jargon. With these documents, companies leave open the possibility to insert ads directed at every type of audience.

However, the audience doesn’t need to accept everything that is thrown at them. Samsung has already faced complaints over its supposed use of voice recognition systems on its TVs to spy on conversations. In its service conditions, it stated that user should be careful with their words, as this and other information was being shared with third-parties.

smart tv

At the start of 2015, Samsung began to show Pepsi pop-ups on applications for streaming videos. The company brushed this off by saying that the ads formed part of a collaboration with Yahoo and that they were optional. The customer could disable the ads in their settings, but Samsung had previously failed to advise anyone of this.

In the case of LG, a British developer discovered that its smart TV collected information about user habits via the “smart ad” function and saved this information on the company’s servers (something which also appears in its terms of use).

Vizio, a manufacturer what operates mainly in the USA, also admitted that its televisions can recognize the content of the screen, which in the future could be used to send “ads in line with your interests”.

All of these firms earn money in exchange for advertising, which in turn allows them to sell their products at a more competitive price. However, their practices have placed security experts around the world on alert.

Nobody has asked their customers, whose only option (until now) seems to be in looking through the TV’s settings to find how to disable the ads. Will there be an ad blocker for smart TVs in the future?

More | Smart TVs have become the new target for cyber criminals

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All you need to know about the worrying popularity of Malvertising

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Every morning, without fail, you log onto your computer and check your emails, read the news, and have a look at your social media accounts. While you do this it is likely that you’ll come across a few pop-up advertisements which you quickly close as they do little more than annoy you.

However, it’s likely that you haven’t stopped to think that these annoying ads could install a malware onto your computer without you, or the company that manages banners and advertisements, even realizing it.

Malvertising is the name that has been given to this technique that is quickly gaining popularity with cybercriminals. According to security experts, Malvertising has grown by 325% in the last year alone.

As opposed to Adware, which fills your pages with toolbars that aren’t usually malicious, cybercriminals use Malvertising to hide malicious coding in an advertisement and it isn’t even necessary for you to click on it to become infected.

How they carry out this attack is remarkably simple – the cybercriminal enters the network of the company that looks after selling advertising space online, taking advantage of the shared information between the company and its clients. The attacker then passes itself off as a different client and posts its own advertisement, albeit one that may contain a malicious coding in Javascript.

Panda_Security_News_Malvertising

Once the user loads the page, the seemingly innocent ad will appear. Without even clicking on it, the exploit will start to carry out its job by installing a malware on the computer. You may even end up having to deal with a banking Trojan, which is designed to steal your bank details while you are entering them online.

Cybercriminals have been using Malvertising for the past few years, and in 2009, The New York Times suffered an attack by this means when a pop-up passed itself off as an antivirus scanner and infected the users’ computers.

Last September, The Huffington Post was also a victim of Malvertising. Not long after, The Daily Mail, a British tabloid, also inadvertently redirected its readers to exploit kits designed to install malware on their computers. Yahoo and Forbes have also suffered similar problems, just like the famous adult sites YouPorn and Pornhub.

As these cases show, cybercriminals are opting to carry out their attacks on popular websites that see a large number of traffic so as to infect as many computers as possible.

Panda_Security_News_Malvertising_Adblock

So, if cybercriminals are using advertisements on websites that we generally trust to be safe, what are the advertising agencies doing to stop this and what can we do to protect ourselves?

The well-known platform Doubleclick, which is run by Google, shut down 524 million malicious advertisements in 2014 alone. Its spokespeople made reference to using malware protection tools in their fight against the cyber attackers.

For their part, the websites that have been infected could create their own ads or use sponsored content to protect their readers, although at the moment it doesn’t seem a viable solution as external advertising is necessary for them to survive.

Therefore, the best way to protect yourself against these attacks is to install an ad blocker, like Adblock, update Java from the official website, keep your web browser updated, and always use an antivirus. We need to take measures to keep these cybercriminals at bay, as even a simple advertisement could be dangerous.

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How kids’ toys are becoming a tool for cybercriminals

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girl tablet

Until recently it would have been unthinkable to imagine that a simple Barbie doll could pose a threat to data security and information relating to minors, however, more and more toys aimed at children are now connected to the Internet of Things which leaves them vulnerable to attack.

A current example is the new Hello Barbie, recently released by Mattel, which can speak to children – it has up to 8,000 recorded phrases, allowing it to communicate with its owners.

The toy needs to be connected to a Wi-Fi network to send the audio to the servers of ToyTalk (the company responsible for the voice recognition technology), where it is analyzed and a suitable response is chosen. The users, which in this case would be the parents, have to download an application and open an account with ToyTalk to enable the doll to speak.

hello barbie

Mattel claims that the microphone will only activate itself once the related button is pressed, adding that “parents and guardians have control over their children’s information and can manage it via the account”. However, as is the case with other devices, the servers are exposed to a possible cyberattack.

An example of this type of technology’s vulnerability is the recent data leak suffered by VTech, manufacturers of electronic toys for children. The Chinese company sells tablets, mobiles, and baby monitors.

The cybercriminals managed to get data belonging to five million parents and 200,000 children from the company’s servers. This information included names, email addresses, passwords, postal addresses, and thousands of photographs of minors, and even included recordings of the conversations between the toys and their children.

With the growth in electronic toys comes a growth in possible leaks, which has led to national governments taking measures to counteract this. A recent document released by the British government stipulates the areas in which technological fields intelligence and security agencies can investigate, and each of their respective obligations.

child tablet

According to a report from the BBC, Antony Walker from techUK (an organization that represents more than 850 companies in the UK) has claimed that any device connected to the Internet is at risk of being used as a spying tool.

Walker also raised concern with regards to the danger posed by toys that come equipped with cameras and microphones. “In theory, the manufacturer of those products could be the subject of a warrant to enable equipment interference with those devices”, he added.

The aim of these warnings isn’t to cause panic, nor to put people off purchasing these toys, but rather to raise awareness of the growing risk attached to this type of gift.

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Thousands of errors found in multiple Internet of Things devices

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iot

The Internet of Things (IoT) has arrived and it’s here to stay. What might seem a tool that is only used by a select few will soon become a worldwide trend – the lock on your home, your household objects, and even your toothbrush will soon be connected to the network and under control via an app.

For this to become a reality, it will be necessary that an army of engineers and developers that program the software is created. It is estimated that in the coming years this will generate millions of employment opportunities. That said, it won’t just be necessary to create thousands of applications and devices that are connected to the network, but rather the importance will be on protecting the security of users.

In fact, the first stages of the Internet of Things is fraught with a worrying number of vulnerabilities – according to a study by Andrei Costin and Aurelien Francillion, two security experts at the French investigation center, Eurocom, IoT devices that are currently on the market are riddled with security flaws.

To complete their investigation, the pair analyzed nearly 2,000 variants of firmware that accompanied the first network connected devices. The conclusions of the study couldn’t be more worrying – they found nearly 10,000 vulnerabilities that could put user security at risk.

Among these flaws were some that would allow cybercriminals to access personal information to even infect the device with the aim of controlling it remotely.

iot home

The situation is particularly worrying if one keeps in mind that a lot of devices related to the Internet of Things are used to control doors and windows of homes, and even the temperature of the house. By taking advantage of this, a criminal with sufficient knowledge could manipulate the devices and gain access to our homes.

As Costin explains, the team of investigators unearthed these flaws in a simple way. He highlighted that the manufacturers could have discovered them earlier if they had used his methods before releasing them on the marketplace.

Although it is worrying that they have found nearly 10,000 vulnerabilities, it is even more frightening to think that the investigators limited their search to only the interfaces of the devices. This all points to a grim reality of the possibility that there are still more flaws that have yet to be discovered.

If the Internet of Things wants to become a reality within our lives, it is hugely important that its developers pay more attention to its security. Only then will users be able to use connected devices without the fear of a security flaw hanging over them.

Meanwhile, Costin and Francillon’s investigation appears to indicate that our data and security are currently at risk due to this new technology.

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How to keep your kids safe on Snapchat

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snapchat

If your child has a smartphone then it’s likely that they’ve installed one of the many different social networks that place photos as their primary way of communication. It seems almost unthinkable that a few years ago we weren’t all worrying about the best angle for a selfie or whether to snap a quick picture of our food to upload to Instagram before it goes cold.

A photo and video messaging app that has seen a huge surge in popularity is Snapchat. This app, which is primarily aimed at a younger audience, allows users to send videos and images to their contacts with the premise that these messages will be automatically eliminated after a few moments. Users set a time limit for how long recipients can view their Snaps (as of September 2015, the range is from 1 to 10 seconds) after which Snapchat claims they will be deleted from the company’s servers.

However, the application has seen some worrying issues relating to its security. For example, just last year the credentials of 4.6 million U.S. Snapchat users, such as usernames and phone numbers, were made public on the Internet. Despite introducing a new two-step verification process to help boost the app’s security, here are a few things to keep in mind before you let your child get too snap-happy.

How to keep your kids safe on Snapchat

  1. Warn your child over what content to send

Even though your child might think that they are sending the picture of video to their friends, remind them that the app has been hacked in the past and that if it happens again, their images could be made public. So advise them not to send something they wouldn’t want the whole world to see.

  1. Remind them that pictures can be saved

Despite the notion that pictures sent to contacts expire automatically after a set period of time, there are various ways around this and it’s worth pointing it out to your children.

For example, users are often able to take screenshots of photos and videos which are intended to be ephemeral using standard screen capture features on their smartphone or even by using special software to save the image.

  1. Don’t let strangers contact your children

So after following the above steps, next is to ensure that a stranger can’t send your child unsuitable images or contact them. To change the settings to ensure that only their friends can send them messages, tap the ghost icon at the top of the screen to access your child’s profile, then tap the gear cog icon in the upper-right corner, under the Settings menu go to “Receive Snaps from…” and ensure that it says “My Friends” instead of “Everyone”.

Finally, if someone has been harassing your child you can delete and block them from the same section of the menu as the step above. You can also write to [email protected] and they will resolve the issue. If still don’t feel comfortable letting your child use the app, you can delete their account and entering the username and password.

Remember, no matter how much freedom you want to allow your children when using social media, it always pays to keep them informed of the dangers it can pose, too.

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Universal Children’s Day: 7 Tips to Protect Your Child on the Internet

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Universal Childrens Day

Today is Universal Children’s Day, a day set aside for everyone to protect and defend the rights of children. But do we know how to protect children from the dangers involving the Internet and new technologies? It’s important to defend their rights and their innocence in the online world.

The internet is a world known by the children and they must know how to handle it perfectly. Its domain of social networks, search engines, forums… In many instances children have a stronger understanding than that of their parents; therefore they sail along them without excessive parental control. There are many cybercriminals and stalkers who take advantage of this situation to take advantage of children, who are unaware of the dangers they face on almost all occasions.

Pornography, harassment, theft of data and identity… There are many threats facing children online. Through the computer, tablet, online games or mobile phone, children should know how to recognize and react to these situations.

How to Protect a Child’s Online Enviroment

Childrens on Internet

1. Education

It is the cornerstone for training minors, but the dynamic growth of the online world makes it even more essential in this case. However, the little knowledge that parents know about the network causes education to be poor. What is Facebook? What is Tuenti? Should my child chat online with strangers? These are the questions that are asked on several occasions by parents who do not understand this new kind of social environment 2. 0.

Parents must teach their children how to create their online personality, just as they teach them how to behave in real life. There are some values that they should maintain in both worlds: do not to speak with strangers, do not to show an image of you that could be later used against you, do not to give personal details to people you don’t know … Web education and teachers are great the resources that parents who feel lost in this world can use.

2. Control the Hours Spent Online

In today’s work, the social relationships online compete against offline social relationships. All children should learn to disconnect, so they can continue to enjoy a conversation or a real life experience, away from the world 2.0.

3. Show Network Hazards

Sometimes overprotection hinders children from really knowing the threats that face them. Actual cases of harassment, espionage, identity theft, blackmail, etc will happen to those that are less aware threatening situations.

 4. Who Does My Child Talk To?

Parents try to preserve the privacy of their children, but the truth is that you we need to know whose talking and what they’re saying. Just as in real life, a child must know to distrust a stranger who approaches them, they must also learn that these type of people exist and are duplicated within the online world.

 5. Which Photos Should Be Uploaded to the Network?

It’s easy to control the clothing and appearance of children in real life, but do we know what pictures up of them are up on the network? We must remind them of the danger of over-exposure on the Internet. This issue is complicated because in many cases, not even the parents themselves are aware of the consequences of particular photographs up on a social network.

6. Where Does My Child Go Online?

There is certain web content that a minor does not have to see. Since it is impossible to control which pages your child is browsing on the Internet, or what places can be reached via banners and ads, you should install parental control. Through this, the parent may decide which sites are appropriate for their child.

 7. Use Common Sense

Like always, if we teach our children to at least to use common sense, it can used within  2.0 world.

Have you ever faced an online situation complicated with a minor?

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How to stop your child from downloading inappropriate apps

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children online

There can’t be a parent in the world who doesn’t know the beauty of a happy, entertained child. Unfortunately, parents can’t always play the role of the entertainer because keeping a child attentive and interested is not an easy task. So, what can a parent do to keep their little one distracted while they grab a few minutes for themselves? In the past the television was a guaranteed way to keep kids occupied – sit them down on the sofa, switch on some cartoons, and finally get some household chores out of the way while the kids watched their favorite animated characters in delight.

Nowadays, however, with the explosion in tablets and smartphones, there are a whole array of apps for kids to play with. Unfortunately, leaving your electronic device in the hands of a curious and adventurous child could wind up being more trouble than it seems. Due to their nature, children will be intrigued by the device and may end up diverging away from the game or app that you have selected for them, possibly even entering the Apple Store or Google Play store, and downloading some inappropriate content.

What’s even more worrying is that it is also possible to carry out in-app purchases, even in apps aimed at kids. So if you’ve left your purse or wallet lying around, and your child is clever enough to put two and two together, you could wind up with some unexpected charges.

If you aren’t sure on how best to stop your child from downloading inappropriate apps or making in-app purchases, then fear not as we’ve compiled a few tips to ensure that your child won’t have access to content that isn’t suitable for them.

online safety

If you’re an iOS user…

  1. Turn on your restrictions

This may seem obvious, but a lot of people don’t know that the settings of your iOS device allow you to restrict certain activity. All you need to do is enter your settings and hit the tab in the part labelled “General” to turn them. Once activated, you select a special password which will make it impossible to turn the restrictions back off unless the password is entered.

From there you can go through your list of apps and choose which ones you want to put restrictions on by selecting the tab beside the apps. A further step would be to remove your chosen payment method from your Apple account.

  1. Demand a password for purchases

If you don’t want to ban purchases completely, you can also put a limitation that requires a password every time there is a purchase made in the App Store or iTunes Store.

  1. Monitor accounts for teenagers

If you have a child that is over 13 years of age that has their own Apple account, make sure that you only allow them to make purchases with gift cards. If you still don’t trust this method, you can activate the “Ask to Buy” feature if you are using Family Sharing.

If you’re an Android user…

  1. Be aware of authentication processes

Google Play has an authentication process that has a few different options available. First of all, any app that is aimed at children aged 12 or under automatically requires authorization for in-app purchases. However, for other apps you can freely download unless you set up authorization for every purchase or for purchases made every 30 minutes. We highly recommend choosing the former, which you can access via the User Control area.

  1. Have the same restrictions on all devices
    Authentication settings apply only to the device where you add them. If you use your Google Account on more than one device, you must repeat the instructions mentioned above on each device.

So, as you can see all it takes is 10 minutes of having a look at your settings and you can avoid any nasty surprises or unexpected charges. If you’re wondering how else to protect your kids when they’re using the Internet, here are some further tips that will allow them to surf the net safely.

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10 easy-to-follow online safety tips for grandparents

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grandparents security

Online security has no age limits and we can all protect ourselves from cybercriminals without being experts in the field. All you need to do is adopt the traditional “don’t speak to strangers” advice and apply it to your online habits.

Here we’ll recap ten simple steps that all of the family, including your grandparents, can follow to ensure safety while online.

10 easy-to-follow online safety tips for grandparents

1. Don’t trust every email that you receive

Some cybercriminals can pass themselves off as another person with the aim of stealing your personal information. So, how do you know when you’re being tricked? The easy way to stop this is to avoid conversations with people you don’t know. You should also avoid clicking on links sent by an unknown source and never give your personal information to a website that doesn’t begin with https:// (you’ll see a lock in the browser). Also, your bank will never ask for your email address, so don’t give it away.

2. Be wary of downloading attachments

If you receive an email from an unknown source with an attachment that is either ‘.zip’, ‘.rar’, ‘.exe’, a Word document, or a seemingly innocent photo, don’t download it. These could all contain malware that could infect your computer also be wary of emails from friends, as unwittingly, they could send you malware. It’s best to check with them before opening it, if you weren’t expecting to receive an email from them.

3. Surf the web safely

Don’t just give away your personal information to any website without thinking why they demand it. You should also trust your browser, as if there is anything suspicious it will inform you that the website is potentially dangerous. It’s best to pay attention.

4. Use different passwords and change them frequently

If you want to register yourself on trusted website, be sure to use a password with a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols (although a few websites will ask you for this anyway). Never use the same password for all of your accounts and make sure you change them every so often. Also, don’t send your password to anyone or leave it written down anywhere. It might seem a little extreme, but you need to stop others from accessing your network.

grandparents computer

5. Eliminate annoying ads

You never know what an innocent click can do until your browser is filled up with annoying banners, pop-ups, and ads that you don’t want to see. To avoid them, install a blocking service such as Adblock.

6. Be careful of SMS

Cyberattackers are now using this messaging service to carry out attacks, so you should also be wary of what these messages contain. A few months back there was a malware that was spread by this medium which simply asked “is this your photo? – Once the victim clocked on the link, an app was installed onto the device which was able to spy on their contacts.

7. Install an antivirus on all your devices

Leave the experts to worry about your computer or smartphone by letting the antivirus software look after and protect your device from malware. They help to ensure that you are safe when buying online and allow you piece of mind when surfing the net.

8. Exert caution with public Wi-Fi zones

Many is a time that you arrive at the train station, the café, or the hotel and have connected to the Wi-Fi that is offered freely. Although it is convenient, keep in mind that it is a public connection and you should be extra careful about what you do while connected. While browsing, make sure that the lock symbol is present and avoid carrying out bank transactions.

9. Remove your tracks when using other computers

If you log in to a personal email account or another service while using a different computer, be sure to delete all browsing history, including cookies. If you aren’t sure of where to find out how to delete your tracks, follow this simple tutorial from Chrome.

10. Allow updates to your software and operating system

The old saying “better the devil you know” doesn’t really apply to the internet. If your operating system or any of the apps that you have installed is saying that there are updates available, read it carefully and install it. Even if you need to adapt to a few changes, it’s better to have the most up-to-date version as it will be the one that the developers have installed the latest security updates for.

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