Internet Safety

Remember that when sending a message to the internet, to a blog, website or person, to be careful with your personal data. Many people online are as lovely as you, the others are not.

Information that anyone and everyone can see should not include:

• Your full name, including your title (Miss, Dr, Mr., etc.) or any middle names you may have.

• Your date of birth.

• Any credit card details, even what bank you're part of; no-one needs to know this.

• Your phone number, some websites may ask for this but as long as you trust the website and the website is secure there is unlikely to be any harm in giving them that information. Someone you meet online does not need to know this information. Remember that your home phone has the area code, and people can easily find out the general area in which you live.

• Details of where you live, obviously commenting on how nice your garden looks today is not dangerous, but make sure the information you share does not make it obvious to someone walking around the neighborhood which garden is yours.

• Details of where you are going and when, saying 'I'm going to McDonalds this afternoon!' is okay, but saying 'I'm going to March Street McDonalds at 2.30 with my mum this afternoon!' is too much information.

• Too much information about yourself - sometimes you need to rant, but not everybody needs to read that. Often just typing out what you want to say and then deleting it is enough to make you feel better.

Talking to people online is not always a bad thing, you can learn many interesting things and make new friends. Not everyone online is who they say they are however, and you should always be careful. If you feel uncomfortable just stop talking to them. If they won’t leave you alone you may be able to block them - stopping any communication from them to you.

It is important never to meet up with someone you met online by yourself. The online world is an anonymous place and it is easy for people to pretend they are someone they are not. If you would like to meet someone you have met online make sure it is in a public place and take a friend or two, if you start to feel uncomfortable just leave.

The internet is a wonderful place to collect information about people. Search for any famous person and you will find out their date of birth, place of birth, how many times they have been married and to whom, and even their favourite foods and colours. Sometimes this will result in stalkers, yet another reason to be careful with your personal details.

Other things you can do to ensure safety online are:

• Anti-virus/ Anti-spyware: A virus can spread from computer to computer, through a program downloaded from a website or carried from a memory stick or CD. It is like a cold, one person has it and gives it to another person, while still having the cold them self. Viruses can hide in your computer until a certain date, or can make themselves immediately known; there are types of virus that will slow your computer down over time until it is so slow it cannot be used. There was a virus called the ILOVEYOU virus around the year 2000 that was sent to people's e-mail address and once in the computer sent itself to the first 50 contacts in the computer's address book as well as overwriting the image files stored on the computer. Spyware will collect information about you without your knowledge. Spyware will not make itself obvious as viruses might. Often you can find a reliable free anti-virus, otherwise these can be bought and installed onto your computer and will keep out viruses and spyware which could keep track of any passwords and numbers entered into your computer, this is very important if you view your bank details online! You should always take care to find a reliable anti-virus, as some are actually viruses in disguise.

• Firewalls: These will protect your network from unauthorized access by putting up a 'wall'. Anyone who wishes to go through this wall must have a password. Many personal computers include software based firewalls to protect against threats from the internet.

• https: Web addresses always begin with http, if there is an 's' after this it means the site is secure, the 's' will usually appear if you are buying something or entering passwords. If it does not you may want to have a read through the website’s privacy policy.  

• Encryption: This will translate your data into a secret code. If you have wireless internet you would use a router that encrypts your wireless transmissions, making anyone who hacks into those transmissions see something that makes no sense. If you have wired internet it will be more secure than wireless and you should not need to worry about encryption.

Usually a good anti-virus and a router that encrypts your transmissions will look after your online life, as well as some common sense. If you feel that what you do online is very important and needs more security you will find there are many other ways to protect yourself and your work that are readily available.