We all know we shouldn’t take Internet security lightly, but how many of us actually practice good discipline online and what are the warning signs we should look out for?
Internet users are being attacked from all angles …
- spam email
- identity theft
- bogus shops
- credit card fraud
- malicious attacks
- ‘friendly’ hacks
But there are a number of measures you can incorporate into daily routines that can help make your online experience safer.
When buying online …
1 – Check the Contact Details
Make sure the online store you are buying from has a phone number – then give that number a ring. Consider how quickly they pick up, how they answer the phone and whether they sound like someone you want to order from.
Also make sure they display their contact postal address (not a PO Box number) and any registered office address if applicable.
Look out for …
- no phone number
- a phone that nobody answers
- an unprofessional call answer
- no static postal address
- any attempt to mask or hide contact details
2 – Read the Terms and Conditions
It’s amazing how many of us just don’t take the time to read the small print when buying online. You really must!
If buying a product, find out how they handle returns and refunds. If buying a service, make sure you understand the contract term and your cancellation rights.
Look out for …
- unprofessionally written terms
- ambiguous, flowery terminology
- terms that sound too unreasonable
3 – Insist on Secure Pages
Don’t pass any personal details or payment information through unsecured pages. To check if a page is secure, look for the security mark in your browser window. This might be a padlock image in the bottom corner, or the address tab changing colour when you visit the page.
Look out for …
- no secure pages being used
- general unprofessional checkout
- unexpected steps in the payment process
When using email …
4 – Install a Local Firewall
Get yourself some good security software to install on your computer to protect your computer and everything on it. This should at least have good email and virus protection features and preferably have a ‘kill switch’ to instantly close your connection to the Internet.
5 – Open Your Mail With Care
If you get an email from an unknown source, open it with caution. Check the title and the sender’s email address then make a decision as to whether it looks legitimate. If in doubt, place it into your trash folder or mark it as spam.
If you use a preview pane to view the content of an email without opening it, try not to use this to view any questionable emails. If a spam email contains html or rich content, by viewing the email you are effectively downloading information from their server to your computer. This could pose a risk to the security of your computer.
Look out for …
- pharmacy related emails
- requests to update your details
- prize winning notifications
- links to visit a site you’ve never heard of
- any request for you to download something
6 – Guard Your Email Address
By all means give out your email address to friends and family but never give it out to anyone else. Whenever you need to provide an email address online, give a secondary address or even better, a specific prefix that relates to them.
For example, if your normal email address is ‘you@yourdomain.com’ and you are ordering a pair of new trainers from, say, Hitec Sports, give them an email address of ‘hitec@yourdomain.com’.
In this way, you can quickly identify any email sent to you at that address as actually coming from Hitec Sports.
The ability to do this with email may not be available to everyone but any good host provider will include this for free with their hosting and email services.
When running a website …
7 – Keep Your Scripts Updated
If your site is built using any ‘open source’ script such as WordPress or Joomla or Drupal, it is essential you keep it up to date and apply any security patches that are released.
If you are writing your own website code, or getting a developer to do it for you, make sure it is written to a high level and follows good security practices. Don’t risk losing your website for the sake of a little care and attention during the build process.
Failure to practice good security measures will result in your site being vulnerable to attack and even though you think it will never happen to you – it will. One day you will wake up and find your website has been replaced with a virtual graffiti tag from the guy who hacked into it the night before.
If you need help with building or developing websites then please contact our Web Development Team for assistance.
8 – Practice Using Good Passwords
These days we all have numerous usernames and passwords to remember which makes it tempting to just think of a simple password and use it everywhere.
This is extremely bad practice and we strongly recommend you follow these guidelines for good password practice …
Things to avoid …
- DO NOT use a dictionary word
- DO NOT use family, friend or common names
- DO NOT use sequential letters or numbers (abc, 123)
- DO NOT use the same password for multiple logins
Things to practice …
- DO use random strings of letters and numbers
- DO use different passwords for different logins
- DO include upper and lower case letters at random
- DO change your password regularly (monthly or quarterly)
9 – Check Usage Statistics
If you have access to usage stats for your website then check them regularly. Learn to identify common and uncommon behaviour from your site visitors and focus on unusual peaks that may be as a result of dubious activity.
Check your system error logs to see any errors the system has recorded. These logs help to identify errors in your site pages and also any dubious activity that you should be aware of.
Look out for …
- activity from countries you don’t market to
- attempts to access secured areas
- links to files that don’t exist
10 – Backup Your Data
Don’t take the risk of losing your information, back it up regularly. We recommend daily, weekly and monthly backups that are stored locally and remotely. You’ll find that a good backup schedule will save a great deal of time, money and frustration should you ever lose your information.
About the Author
This article was written by Poldings Ltd who have been providing professional grade UK Web Hosting and UK Web Development services since 2001. Visit them online at …
http://www.poldings.co.uk
Entry Hosting | Home Hosting | Business Hosting
A new business has been launched in Four Marks for those looking to become professional curtain, cushion or roman blind makers.