We are influencers and brand affiliates. This post contains affiliate links, most which go to Amazon and are Geo-Affiliate links to nearest Amazon store.
Since you are reading this blog post, most probably you know what web browsing is. While the internet is considered the best invention till date by many, in terms of utility and popularity, there are certain things which need to be kept in mind while browsing on the internet or the World Wide Web (WWW) in order to remain safe and avoid rude shocks.
Here I’ve compiled a list of the 20 most effective ways to secure your web browsing sessions.
- Always use an antivirus program (recommended free antivirus: AVG).
- Use “HTTPS” (secure HTTP connection) for using websites like Facebook, Gmail where the option is available.
- Use well-known web-browsers only: Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Apple Safari and Opera.
- Install the latest stable versions of web-browsers.
- Use your antivirus program’s web-browser search filter plugin (most popular antivirus programs have this feature).
- Check the webpage URL before logging in.
- Use bookmarks for important sites.
- Enable windows firewall or antivirus firewall.
- Install windows security updates.
- Don’t download from piracy/warez/porn related sites.
- If you get a message like “your computer has a virus…click here to remove it” immediately close the web-browser window or tab, clear the recent history (cache, cookies, browsing/search history as well as active login sessions), shut down the web-browser and never visit that site again!
- Use a free proxy service like web-proxy.ca or web-proxy.org to access risky/unknown sites (if possible disable JavaScript on your web-browser while using such proxy sites).
- Don’t install new/unknown web-browser plugins/extensions/add-ons without consulting someone else (you can post a query on the DragonBlogger contact page [link]).
- Don’t share personally identifiable information like physical addresses, full name, SSN, date of birth etc.
- Avoid using email account details to import contacts to other sites, instead go to the contacts page in your Gmail/ Yahoo-mail/ Hotmail (or any other service you use) account, export and copy-paste the email addresses.
- Don’t click on links on unknown/unreliable Facebook pages, online forums, emails from unknown senders, public chat rooms etc.
- Don’t sign up with real information on unknown/new/unreliable social networking sites.
- Use a web-browser extension/add-on/plugin to check the Alexa/ Compete/ Quantcast traffic popularity of websites before signing up or submitting personal details. While this is not a fool-proof way to be safe on the internet, it is an indicator of how many people use the websites.
- Don’t download (.exe) and (.bat) files from unreliable websites/blogs.
- Don’t install web-browser tool-bars and web-browser extensions/add-ons/plugins integrated with other software programs. Even if they don’t harm your computer they slow it down and/or change the default search engine/home page etc. of your web-browsers.
We are influencers and brand affiliates. This post contains affiliate links, most which go to Amazon and are Geo-Affiliate links to nearest Amazon store.
I’m a Generalist Researcher working on a Theory of Reality, Horticulturist, Blogger, Natural Systems Analyst and Amateur Architect