In an online world where we all regularly use the Internet to shop, keep up with friends and family, and see what is going on in the world, keeping safe online is crucial. This month, the Naperville Police Department aims to make our community “A Safer Naper” by reminding everyone of the importance of online personal safety.
Here are some internet safety tips to help you stay safe when online.
- Don’t Share Personal Information: Think before you post anything online or share information in emails. Sharing sensitive information with others you do not know personally is a huge risk and should be avoided.
- Keep Your Privacy Settings On: Enable privacy settings on web browsers and on mobile operating systems.
- Practice Safe Browsing: One careless click on a malicious link could expose personal data or infect your device with malware. Never click on an unknown link or pop-up.
- Make Sure Your Internet Connection is Secure: Use a secure VPN (virtual private network) connection. A VPN enables you to have a secure connection between your device and an Internet server that no one can monitor or access the data that you’re exchanging.
- Be Careful What You Download: Don’t download apps that look suspicious or come from a site you don’t trust, as they could carry malware or a virus to steal your information.
- Choose Strong Passwords: Use a unique password for each of your accounts. Strong passwords include a string of text that mixes upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and special characters.
- Make Online Purchases from Secure Sites: Don’t buy anything online from a site that doesn’t have SSL (secure sockets layer) encryption installed. An SSL site will start with HTTPS:// (instead of just HTTP://). Look for a locked padlock icon in the status bar at the bottom of your web browser or right next to the URL in the address bar.
- Be Careful What You Post: Think before you post, as what you post online can stay online forever.
- Be Careful Who You Meet Online: People you meet online are not always who they claim to be and may not even be real. Scammers often create fake social media profiles to scam you into sending them money, usually via cryptocurrency or gift cards.
- Updates: Keep your computer’s operating system, browsers, and antivirus and other software up to date with the latest or daily security patches.
For more information on online safety, visit naperville.il.us/asafernaper.
Until next month… Stay Safe and Stay Aware.
