12 Tips: Today Is Safer Internet Day!
“The freedom to connect to the world anywhere at anytime brings with it the threat of unscrupulous predators and criminals who mask their activities with the anonymity the Internet provides to its users.” Mike Fitzpatrick
12 Tips: Today Is Safer Internet Day! – Internet Messenger by Buky Schwartz
Staying safe on the Internet is imperative. It can protect your data and your life. Unless you live on another planet, you know the internet is fraught with all sorts of Cyber-criminals; we live in a world of hackers, spammers, predators, trolls, spies and other creepy types. It takes vigilance and all the safety measures we can employ, to keep them at bay. Today is Safer Internet Day and over 100 countries globally are participating in the effort to raise awareness for smarter and safer Internet use. Google has kindly provided us with 12 important steps we can take to stay safe while surfing the internet. I’ll share them in 3 groupings of 4. How many of them do you use to stay safe on the internet?
1. Protect you Selfie photos and your account from hackers with 2 step verification.
2. Keep criminals and hackers out by updating your browser
3. Always make sure your account is secure by doing regular check ups on your settings
4. Always make sure to lock your Device Manager before the Cyber-thieves get to it
“The Internet is the first thing that humanity has built that humanity doesn’t understand, the largest experiment in anarchy that we have ever had.” Eric Schmidt
12 Tips: Today Is Safer Internet Day! – Virus Blaster
5. Don’t engage in surprise purchases. Use password protection.
6. Control your searches for family friendly PG results
7. Identify your favorite Hangout sites and save them for return visits.
8. Keep YouTube’s Safety Mode locked on your device… Permanently
As you develop safety measures to make your Internet surfing life easier, it’s critical that you inform your friends, family, and others of these safety measures. What good is it if you are able to protect yourself but fall victim to a loved ones carelessness? You must educate people close to you on proper and safe Internet etiquette. Surfing the Internet is not only about getting information to help us with our work, it is also about preventing Cyber-criminals from taking advantage of us with malware, adware, Cyber-stalking, hacking, trolling and spamming. Keep your loved ones protected and informed. Share the tips you’ve learned with everyone.
More Below!“Privacy is not an option, and it shouldn’t be the price we accept for just getting on the Internet.” Gary Kovacs
12 Tips: Today Is Safer Internet Day! – At Symbol
9. Let your favorite browser (Chrome, Firefox) manage your 10,000 passwords
10. If you come across questionable content, flag it and let Google know
11. Learn to keep spies off your device with a PIN or other protective methods
12. Create complex, STRONG passwords with upper case and lower case letters and symbols.
We always talk about privacy issues and how we don’t want our information to get into the wrong hands. But what are you really doing about it? Do you know that if your email provider is lax about encrypting outbound/inbound emails you send, your private information could quickly become a bargaining chip for a thief. Take a moment to see which email providers support encryption and if yours is not on the list, demand that they do so or switch providers. Your safety is important , and as Gary Kovacs said above, your privacy should never be an option. It must always be protected. What are you doing to ensure that is the case? Below are the three links to what you can do now. I’ve also covered them above.
1.Explore these 12 safety tips. 12 tips for you right here.
2.Share the tips with your family and friends. Celebrate Safer Internet Day by sharing these tips with people you know
3.Find out how safe your email is Find out which email providers support encryption in the Transparency Report.
Positive Motivation Tip: Staying safe on the internet is important. It can save your data and your life. Be vigilant. Stay safe.
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos: Internet Messenger, Virus Blaster, At Symbol, via Wikipedia from my Personal Collection.
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
I need to do a virus scan now that you mention it. I do them all the time, but haven’t done one in about a week.
Please do. I’m neurotic about doing it every day.
I will have to run mine tonight. It has been awhile. Thanks for the reminder!
My husband and I were just talking about this. Safer internet. When we have kids,we will not be putting their photo online, at all.
I try to be as safe as possible whenever I’m surfing the internet. I have a firewall, spyware software, and high security settings. The last thing I need is my computer blowing up!
Tell me about it. LOL!
Creating strong passwords is so important! I’m always surprised by some of the passwords I hear from family members.
I have a friend who once told me that password was his password. I couldn’t stop laughing. He has since changed it. 🙂
Online safety is so important! I see quite a few people who either don’t care or don’t realize all the personal info or things that can be harmful. I will be sharing this!
I actually had no idea it was Safer Internet Day until I was on snapchat and they had a little design for it. Safer Internet sounds like a great thing to celebrate to me!
This is something I’ve made a point to learn and teach to my kids. I’m always reminding them to change their passwords often and not to make sketchy purchases.
Same here. I’m always reluctant to buy unsolicited merchandise.
Internet safety is so important. Thank you for sharing such great information.
I didn’t know this was even a day! Internet safety is so very important.
I am always very careful about using the internet. Safety is so important! My daughters are still young, but I’ll let them play kids games on the laptop. I want to make sure everything is safe and secure for them when they get older and really know how to work the computer.
The internet is full of criminals trying to get your info. Thanks for these safety tips!
These are excellent tips and suggestions. Plus, if you have kids you need to teach them these dangers and monitor their online activities. They are young and naive so they don’t realize the things they do can harm them.
Thank you for sharing this information!
Great tips-this is very important! thanks for sharing!
Those are really good tips. I change my passwords regularly and update my browser
While technology is amazing, there is the caveat too. Thank you for your important and thoughtful post. Internet safety is something we need to strive for as parents. 🙂
Password protections is extremely important. I learnt that the hard way! Great post.
This is what I’m worried about when my kids get older. I really want to make sure the computers in our home (and their phones) have parental locks on them.
Vital information, thank you!
Thank you dear! It is 🙂
I love this post, Elizabeth. I thought what I’m already doing’s enough – turns out I still need to work on a lot of things. While the internet has helped us and made our lives easier in so many ways, we all still have to be cautious in using it. I’m saving your post for future reference so I don’t forget.
We do have to be very cautious. The other day a group member sent me a tweet that I could tell was a virus. She had no idea when she clicked on it… Thank you! 🙂
I thought I was already doing okay with keeping my stuff safe online, but after reading your post, turns out I still have to work on so many things. I am grateful for this post, Elizabeth and I’m saving for future use. While the internet has made our lives easier in a lot of ways, safety cannot be compromised.
So true… we could all stand to do these regular check ups. i agree.
Isn’t it sad that we have to think like this and not have it be the lovely neighbourhood it could be, where we meet so many lovely folk such as yourself
True! And yourself too. Sadly, it’s a minefield out there. 🙁
I never knew there is such an occasion as Safer Internet Day. Thanks for the great tips!
This is such an important topic. There are more and more ways the internet is being abused by hackers, scammers, etc. It’s really essential for people to know how to protect themselves, from what type of content they put on the internet and how. Thanks for sharing!
True… Oh, I forgot to add scammers to my rhyming list. Haha! Thanks for that one. 🙂
Now that you bring it up, I need to do a virus check. Online safety is SO important.
These are really great tips. I have not done a virus scan in a long time.
I definitely change my password often. Trouble is I forget what I changed to sometimes and have to reset. 😉 These are all wonderful tips to read and practice!
Thank you! They are reminders for all of us I agree. 🙂
As much as I love the internet and can’t live without it, it can be a dangerous place. Thanks for the great tips to help stay safe online.
I’m going to need to work on the complex, strong password tip. Mine tend to get rejected because they are so simple. 🙁
At least you try… Not to worry. Use 2 step verification.
I need to work on my passwords. Seems too many know my basic codes and that is not good at all.
these are some great tips! i rarely thought about staying safe on the Internet !
Although my site is safe and I employ many of these tips, last year I had the life scared out of me. My site was supposedly attacked by malware. Fast forward and things are all good, but there was a very dark week last year where I thought I had lost my blog to hackers.
my facebook was once hacked by someone. He changed my profile pictures and my profile, and made me desperate a lot. from that moment, I regularly change my pass. 🙁
That’s a great tips I’ve read before, and I haven’t heard about this internet day. Thanks for idea!
Those are awesome tips. I think the password one can be challenging sometimes – especially if it requires characters and/or one cap or something.
Very good advice. Sad that there are so many out there that will take advantage.
Thank you for sharing. I didn’t know that the other day was Safer Internet Day. Will add this to my blogging calendar for next year.
These are great tips. It is so important to think before adding information on the internet.
There is so much to have to remember. Thanks for the tips.
Internet safety is so important these days. You can’t be too safe in my opinion.
Don’t click unnecessary links and avoid visiting spammy sites. Password can also keep your files more secure.
These are very nice tips. Internet safety is a must. So, I have to change my password every month. Safe from hackers.
These are helpful and great tips Elizabeth. I’ve always value security. Specially now that we live in the era of technology. My work requires higher degree of online security and sometimes people just don’t get it. I was once pissed off of security measures, but later on realize it was needed to protect me. Great reminder on security! Thanks!
These are very nice tips. Internet safety is a must. Last week someone tried to hack my Facebook account. good thing my account is safe. Still, I have to change my password . Safe from hackers.
These are really great tips. Thank you so much for sharing.
this post is definitely very helpful and informative. Thanks for these tips!
Absolutely great tips for a safer internet access as we live in a world where you are tracked knowingly or unknowingly by strangers. I have setup the 2-step verification for all my accounts & I have a habit of keeping my passwords so stronger with special characters as well.
Keeping kids safe on the net is hard. These are great tips for that.
some great tips! spam emails are to be aware of as well
I really need to step my game up in all this kinda stuff!!! Definitely need a new virus scanner program on my imac
I do worry about internet safety, especially now that I am a mom. I think that these are great tips that we should all follow! Pinning!
Thank you for the pin! It’s vital information for all of us.
Unfortunately, the Internet is full of cyber thieves and we often lose a lot-privacy, money, etc. We need to protect ourselves. I still remember how my online store was hacked by a sixteen year old Moroccan hacker and how much time and effort it took to restore it back.
Yikes! The kids these day are unbelievable.
I like the first photo in this post.. It’s so cute! Thanks for the tips. I’ll put all the tips in my mind..
Internet safety is definitely so important, especially nowadays as it is so easily accessible – and for children! Some great tips! Sim @ simslife.co.uk x
I have to say I always feel pretty safe as my husband is a software engineer. Everyone needs to be more careful though I think.
Thank you for the reminder. Some may sound simple but these are the things people often forget. I will have to review mine too very soon!
I love these tips. Good work because these serve as a good reminder for folks. The internet is fun to use, but we also have to make sure that we do everything we can to stay safe!
That is true… It can be fun or frightening!
This is definitely a very helpful post. Keeping your internet has become more important in today’s time than ever.
Thank you for reminding us of this very important topic. This is especially true for our kids who enjoy using the internet, but are usually unaware of the dangers. – Fred
Exactly. I have memories of my kids on the Internet and what they dragged onto our computer. Phew!
This is a very helpful post. I had to check the link about how to protect selfies because I must say, I have lots of it posted online :p Thanks for sharing
Such great reminders, and I love that statue!
Yes, Isn’t it unique? 🙂
I like how your list is brief and clear, so it’s easier to relay to other people. I’m all for internet safety, so i’ll keep these all in mind.
I have been a victim on fb and my personal email. I always change my password every 2 months. I even use alphanumeric pw. The funny rthing is, theres nothing to be hqcked on my profiles. Im just an ordinary person, lol
I have been a victim by hackers on my fb and email. I tried changing my password and security questions every 2 months yet i was victimized by these hackers