By Jennifer Smelyanets
Considering that our days are crazy enough - between racing to work, the gym, kids, friends, boyfriends, husbands - the last thing we want is to pick up some extra "friends" along the way. These unwanted visitors come in the form of worms, spyware, viruses, and a host of other threats lumped into the classification of "malware". Just as one would encourage women to be armed with the knowledge of how to fight off a cold or improve financial health, AVG, a leader in security software, wants women to be armed with the Must-Do list for taking control of the internet.
Stop Kissing Web Frogs. Fish out the Phishing scams. Remember the last time you got an email from your bank asking for your account and social security number or that heart-warming story from the freedom-fighting prince in Nigeria who desperately needs your help? Recognizing scams are half the battle. Legitimate companies never request user names, passwords, credit card numbers, or social security numbers by email. If you are troubled by your account, get in touch with the company directly, and always assume the prince is really a frog.
Arm Yourself With a Virtual Black Belt in Security. Install security software, update it frequently, and don’t forget to use link scanning technologies. Deceitful emails and scam websites can contain malicious software that can harm your computer or track your web activities, unbeknownst to you. For the most part, most of us have some program installed on our computers, but to be effective it must be up to date with the latest in threat assessments. In a perfect world, those assessments would be made live and in real time. Think of it this way: you wouldn’t buy a fancy alarm system and then never set it. Make sure an Internet security suite is installed on your computer and is kept up to date.
Be a Woman of Mystery. Use Nonsensical, Long Passwords. The movie scene is a familiar one: you want to crack into your boyfriend/husband/special someone’s voicemail and you know what that password is going to be because he is so predictable. Guess what? That’s exactly how some cyber-criminals feel about you. Create passwords that use upper and lower case letters, numbers, special characters, and are longer than six characters. It’s also wise to create nonsensical, random passwords that do not relate to your life, such as your favorite pet or god forbid your phone number. Last, but not least, use different passwords for separate accounts and change them regularly.
These are just a few of the top tips from the experts in online security at AVG. For those women looking to stay self-secured online, there are more tips available online to help keep your internet experience safe. If you are interested in seeing what these scam artists are really up to, and de-mystifying some of the recent hype and drama, set some time aside and brush up on safety so you can learn to surf safely on the web.
