The Best Ways To Protect Yourself Online

If you are keen to make sure that you are using the internet right, one of the major first steps that you should take is to try to protect yourself online as best as you can. There are so many potential privacy and security issues when you are using the internet, and you need to make sure that you are doing everything you can to keep on top of this. In this article, we are going to go through many of the major things you can do to protect yourself online, thereby enjoying your use of the internet all the more and ensuring that you don’t get caught out in the future.

Use Two-Step Authentication

There are many services, websites and devices which use two-step authentication, and it is one of the most secure means by which you can keep yourself safe and secure while using the internet. With this process, you essentially have to provide two pieces of separate information in order to log in or to use a service or device. Generally that will take the form of a password plus a code that will be sent to you through either your email or your text messaging service, for instance.

By providing both of these pieces of information, you are proving that you are physically able to use your phone or your emails or whatever it might be to grab that information. There are ways for this process to be hacked, and it is not one hundred percent failsafe, but it is a much safer option than merely having to input a password when you are trying to log in, as a password on its own is actually quite easy to crack if the individual in question knows what they are doing.

Take a look and see whether you can set up two-factor authentication on any of the websites you are using, or the devices you use. It is becoming more and more common, so you might find that there are many places you can actually start to use this, and it is a wonderful way to start being more secure and safer online.

Connect Through A VPN

If you are interested in preserving your privacy as you use the web, then you might want to look into using a Virtual Private Network (VPN). This is a way of rerouting your internet connection through a number of different IP addresses, so that the one that you are using directly is masked. In order to understand why this might be such an important tool to use, you need to appreciate what an IP address is, and why it is a potential privacy concern.

Your Internet Protocol address is an online address assigned to the device that you are using. Someone with a little knowhow can easily uncover your IP address. Once they have that information, they can find out what is stored on your machine, and even take remote control of it if they want to. More than that, they can find out where you are located geographically, and from that work out much more personal information in no time. Clearly, this is something that you should be trying to avoid at all costs.

If you want to make sure that you are avoiding this issue, then you need to use a VPN. There is nothing wrong with using a VPN all the time, as that way you are providing yourself with the best possible protection you could have. Take a look around and try to find the best VPN you can. You might want to read up on the best VPN review so you can compare different stats. In any case, it’s a great idea to have one.

Secure Your Social Media Accounts

Your social media accounts are some of the most sensitive places out there when it comes to your personal information. Just think of all the things that someone could find out by hacking into your account and rifling through your DMs or other places. In order to feel truly secure online, you therefore need to make sure that you are securing your social media accounts as soon as possible. But how can you actually do this, and what does it require?

First of all, make a list of your accounts and decide whether there are any of those that you actually need, or whether you are going to be able to get rid of some of them. Many of us have additions to social media anyway, so you might find that doing away with one or two could be a positive step in many respects. After that, check that you have different passwords for each site, as you don’t want someone to get hold of access to each one at the very same time. Once you have done that, you might want to consider two-step authentication as mentioned above.

If you do that, you are going to find that your data and privacy is much more secure, and that your entire online life is therefore much more secure. The best is to not use these sites at all, but there are very few of us who manage not to use them, so you might have to find a compromise in some way or another. However you do it, securing your social media accounts is one of the most important things that you can do in order to protect yourself online.

If you carry out these simple things, you are going to be much more secure online in no time. That will mean that you are secure in your actual offline life too, as this is not really a separation that you can claim to be real. Ensure that you are protecting yourself and your family as best as