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Five practical tips to ensure your safety when browsing the Internet, to avoid intruders on your network or simply if your smartphone is stolen.
Security is something that we must take into account today and we must have good guidelines to avoid problems. Many of us have the passwords stored in the browser and thus we do not have to remember them. Two-step verification tools and apps exist. There are even strong password managers for accessing different systems. All that is very good, but you have to take more things into account.
We must be aware that any malicious attacker wants our access codes to harm us. You have to be suspicious by nature, just as we would be if we were on the street. Sure most of the people we come across do not want to hurt us, but we can always find an attacker. Here we must be wary of websites of dubious origin, websites without a security certificate, the emails we receive or who asks us for the password or logging data.
Malicious websites, applications and emails
It is quite common for malicious attackers to look for duplicate known or verified websites. But it is also tried with emails supposedly from banks. We must always mistrust the url or address of the web to which we want to access, to preserve our security.
Facebook, Twitter or other social networks or websites, you only have a valid address. These companies do not have domains like 'Facebuk', 'tweet' or the like. But it is exactly the same with banks.
Our bank, for security reasons, will never ask us to send the passwords to our account and the user. They will only send us information and if there is a special management to do, we must always go to the bank. Furthermore, banks will not send us these requests from email accounts that have nothing to do with the entity. So we must distrust.
The same goes for apps. We must always use official applications and not third-party applications of questionable origin. WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, among others, have free official applications that provide security. Third-party applications may have malware that steals our data, photos, passwords and anything else on our terminal.
Audit our WiFi network
It seems silly, but WiFi networks are vulnerable, especially if we do not have certain security precautions. Routers already come with highly secure passwords that combine letters, numbers and characters, something that is more than enough. It is not necessary to change it, but it is recommended, because it could be compromised by a leak.
Decrypt the WiFi key It is not easy, but it is possible, so it must be complex. We should avoid our name, prominent dates and the like. The recommended is an alphanumeric combination with special characters and that it is random. We can also use chunks of words and dates that are important to us and create a password that is easy to remember, which is both complex and secure.
It is very important to change the name and password to our router. It is useless if we have a security WiFi password and access to the router is weak. Normally routers use 'Admin' as user and 'admin' or '1234' as access password. If an attacker can access the router, they can install malware and compromise our network.
Smartphone theft
It is recommended to have a pin or pattern to access our terminal, to offer strong security. We may think that it doesn't matter, but we have passwords stored in the terminal, at least. It is becoming more and more common to have the credit / debit card stored in our terminal and that must be properly protected. A good way is with a pattern to unlock the terminal or with a fingerprint, in case our smartphone has a reader.
Perhaps the most secure devices in this regard are Apple's. Unlocking a stolen iPhone is no easy task, and although there are many methods, none have been verified. Furthermore, the company also implements a device tracking system. If the phone is turned on or has been turned on, it can provide its location. It can also be remotely locked, preventing anyone from using it again.
Software of unknown origin
We should never install a program on our computer from an unknown source, for security reasons, of course. Just like on our smartphones , there are many free tools available, and if we want to use an official application, it's best to pay for a license.
A license not only gives us constant updates and official support, it also gives us security. There are many pages where you can purchase a serial for Windows 10, Office or other paid applications at a lower cost. Microsoft lets you download all its tools for free and then add the serial. We can even use Windows 10 in an unlimited way without paying, but we will have limitations, such as a constant watermark.
Nobody gives hard to pesetas
This classic phase so hackneyed that nowadays, due to its terminology, does not make sense, it is the order of the day. Just like if we go down the street, nobody will give us money for anything, the same happens on the internet. Although we do not realize it, the pages that claim to give us a gift at zero cost always have a cost. This can be our time, our data, or anything else, such as our system security.
Above all, this is often the case in the world of cryptocurrencies. A clear example are the faucets, very small rewards for watching a video, filling out a survey or registering on a website. All this is a cost, it is not free. It is something that we must always keep in mind.
