I took a Computer Ethics course for my master's course and
we were asked to check on ways on how to protect ourselves from the dangers
posted by the internet.
I gathered some of the ways you can be safe while using the
internet in this article.
Tip 1: Protect your password
1. Never use
password that are popular and can be found in the dictionary. For instance,
“Password”, “12345”, “qwerty”, are some of the common ones I have already tried
and which works. Shame on those who still use such password! (search: popular passwords)
1. 123456
(Up 1)
2.
password (Down 1)
3.
12345678 (Unchanged)
4. qwerty
(Up 1)
5. abc123
(Down 1)
6.
123456789 (New)
7. 111111
(Up 2)
8.
1234567 (Up 5)
9.
iloveyou (Up 2)
10.
adobe123 (New)
11.
123123 (Up 5)
12. Admin
(New)
13.
1234567890 (New)
14.
letmein (Down 7)
15.
photoshop (New)
16. 1234
(New)
17.
monkey (Down 11)
18.
shadow (Unchanged)
19.
sunshine (Down 5)
20. 12345
(New)
21.
password1 (Up 4)
22.
princess (New)
23.
azerty (New)
24.
trustno1 (Down 12)
25.
000000 (New)
Don’t be lazy. Make a hacker at least sweat out before
finally discovering your password.
Do not use “obvious” information about you as passwords such
as names of your family, pets, birthdate, car’s plate number, among others.
3. Make use of
2-step verification. Most sites such as google, facebook, pnb.com.ph, offer
this feature. Usually a series of questions are asked after you inputted your
password. When answering this question, please never state the obvious, again!
Example (Obvious):
Your car’s model: Honda
Breed of your dog: Aspin
First job: programmer
Again, these data can be retrieved easily from linkedin,
facebook and public spaces. Also, these answers are easily generated by Brute
force attack (show meaning). Instead try answering this questions differently,
say, for Breed of your dog : Honda, First Job: Aspin, Your car’s model:
programmer. This could help prevent hackers in recovering your password.
4. Use a mix of
numbers, letters and symbols. Also, try mixing the letters with upper ang
lowercases.
Example: password is easily determined but if mix it up,
pA5$W0rD. Well, I’m sure this could at least provide you a day before the hackers
can recover this password.
5. Never use the
same password for different sites.
I know this could be quite tedious but hey do you want to be
safe or not?
You can use a password manager by the way or better yet you
can use your google account/facebook account to login to other account.
6. Try this out
to check if your password is secure. (http://howsecureismypassword.net/ )
Tip 2: Setup an antivirus software
And never use cracked or pirated antivirus software. There
are a lot on free antivirus software ready for downloading. Personally I like
AVIRA. With these software you will be protected from malware, Trojans, and
viruses (display definitions).
If you do not have one setup then you should kiss your data
goodbye. Probability of someone ogling your data (including back accounts,
resume, browsing history, pictures (hopefully not nude J) is very high.
Tip 3: Use TOR, or use proxy, or use VPN.
"Law-abiding citizens value privacy. Terrorists require
invisibility. The two are not the same, and they should not be confused. ~
Richard Perle"
Tip 4: Social media is not your diary, don’t treat it that
way then!
OK, maybe you just want to share to everyone that your beloved
pet dog died and that you are at a loss! You needed some “digital” shoulders to
cry on. Or hey, you just got engaged and will be partying in an exclusive hotel
for 3 days, it’s a PARTY!PARTY!
A lot of people were screwed due to this. (references).
Additionally you better checkout privacy settings of these
social sites. In facebook you can modify it. Please check it out before posting
more of yourself.
Tip 5: Keep your credit card away from the internet
In order words do not store it in websites. It is a very
risky to store your card data in the internet (display cebupacific). I believe
keying in your card number is not that tedious, isn’t it?
Tip 6: Put protection in your confidential data
Compress your data using zip. Zip has a password protection
feature.
Or you can use Truecrypt.
So there it is, just some tips to have a safe online
experience. I know there are a lot but I hope you can learn a thing or two on
this.
It is not paranoia but of keeping your privacy even though
the internet has made that difficult.
