The usage of VPNs is growing steadily over the last few years. There are a ton of headlines associated with the lack of online privacy, especially after the Facebook Cambridge Analytica scheme was revealed. Even the ordinary people, non-techies who use the internet recreationally, realize that their data is in risk.
There are quite a lot of risks to your personal information coming in a bunch of different directions. With every single Yahoo! Mail account hacked over the years, anyone can understand that even big organizations are lacking in terms of data protection. Then you have companies who actively collect your data and sell it to brokers. Another tangible risk is information theft on WiFi networks.
The obvious bottom line is that your information is under severe risk. Almost anyone using the internet had his information breached one way or another! Have you ever received emails from commercial websites directed at you, using your first name on the headline, but you never subscribed? That means some other site you signed up to has shared your data (or sold it).
There are several ways to minimize the risks. Nothing you are going to do in this regard is going to create a non-penetrable wall around you! If some Russian or Chinese hackers (or the U.S government) are targeting you specifically it would be extremely difficult to protect against their coordinated, well-planned, attacks. And still, if you are doing the right things at the right time you are going to mitigate your privacy risks by at least 90% in comparison to those who do not bother protecting themselves online.
Below are the 5 golden tips to keep yourself safe online by Tim Aqellvoi, a cybersecurity writer for RuinMySearchHistory, a leading online privacy website:
- Get a licensed anti-virus and anti-malware software to run periodically. It is somewhat of an incomplete solution because you rely on your anti-virus to recognize the virus, malware or trojan – and those are getting more and more sophisticated and indistinguishable, but it will stop most of them.
- Avoid leaving your details on various websites. If you must register with one website then use a secondary, dedicated, email address for that, not your primary email. If you can leave fake details upon signing up, do that. Don’t use your real name and details because you know that information is likely to leak sometime in the future.
- In the same fashion, try to avoid giving away too many sensitive details on social networks. If you want to identify yourself by your real name, do that, but there is absolutely no need to specify details that may give away the fact you are a good target for an attack.
- Always use a VPN provider. Over at RuinMySearchHistory we recommended several VPN providers available on our Best VPN for 2018 Guide. You can also read individual reviews of companies like VyprVPN which are on our top recommended list. The advantage of using a VPN is that it makes it more difficult for hackers to intercept your connection and furthermore, it makes it easier for malicious website script to get your information.
- Remember that knowledge is power. Even if you are not a techie person by nature and have not particular interest in how the internet works, you should be making some reading because the aspect of cybersecurity is so crucial for your everyday life. Ransomware shuts down 1 out of 5 businesses it hits! Don’t become a part of that gloomy statistics.
