10 ways to be safe in internet

1> Do not give out your full name, address,
or phone number to anyone online that
you don't trust and/or don't know and
that don't live in the same town as you . They might not be who they claim to be, so
do not trust them if they guess the actual
name of the person you are chatting with.
To avoid confusing your friends with
strangers, make a password you must say.
(for example," If you are Ashley, say our password." Then Ashley will say,"Clever
one true not example example totally weird
refrigerator magnets banana apple dancing
Ugg boots.") Just mix a bunch of words
together and make it pretty hard to guess
by a stranger. Also call your friend to make sure they are online.


2> Never give out your bank account or
credit card information unless you are
shopping with a well known or highly
rated online business. Check for secure transaction info. The best companies will
have many security devices in place. You
may see a gold lock at the bottom of the
page to indicate a secure site. When giving
any bank details or other information make
sure the connection is secure (https) and the site is perfectly trustworthy. Not every
site which runs https or accepts payments is
trustworthy. Some good sites are
Amazon.com, Buy.com, eBay, Barnes &
Noble, iTunes, and sites owned by major
shopping centers such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy.

3> Never open e-mail attachments from
strangers unless you can trust them and
you have security settings on your
computer. Some junk e-mails may contain viruses or Spyware that can harm your
computer. These e-mails may be
automatically marked as "spam" or "junk".

4> Beware of spoof email claiming to be
from eBay, PayPal, or a bank or a
company name you know asking for
personal or sensitive information. This is called phishing. The e-mail may inform you that there is a problem with your account/
password. There may be a link to click
inside. Forward any of these e-mails to the
company it claims to be sent from. They will
confirm whether the e-mail you received
was real or not. Also, bear in mind that email programs like Yahoo!, MSN, etc. will never ask you for your email password. Don't fall
for it.

5> Get a good anti-virus program, Spyware
remover, and firewall. There are free programs available online, such as avast!
antivirus, Grisoft's AVG Free, Microsoft Anti-
Spyware and Webroot, and Sygate personal
firewall. They will block most attempts and
alert you if problems are found.

6> Monitor young children's (under 10)
activities closely and use parental
controls when available. Use a password a child will not guess. Install parental control software. The Internet is not child- friendly.

7>Tell your preteens (under 13) to write
down every website they go to . Also monitor them when they are signing up for
a website. Also, do not let your children sign
up for or any other chat sites (MySpace etc.)
They are focused for an older audience so
here are some recommendations for
children ages 6-13.

8> Change your passwords every month or
so. Try not to use the same password more than once at a time. Also, make your
password something original such
as,"arjnfeurgbvaeurig@yahoo.com." A
harder way to do it is by mixing up a jumble
of letters, but be aware, it might be harder
to memorize, so write in on a piece of paper - keep this hidden from view (not, for
example, on a note stuck to your monitor).
Make it exceptionally hard to guess,
especially if it has your personal
information.

9> Be careful with your details Always be
careful what you say on the internet,
remember only say what you would be
happy to say to some random person on
the street, (This means on sites like
twitter, facebook, bebo, Myspace etc . don't say sentences like: I am going to a
party at (Insert address/venue here) or My
name is (Full name) stuff like that can get
you into a whole lot of trouble with people
you have never even met before.
Remember, once you put your information on the internet, you don't know whos
hands it will fall into.

10> Change your password once every set
period of time. Make sure to write down your password every time you change it. If
you think someone might know your
password to something, change it
immediately. Changing your password
constantly makes it difficult for people to
hack into your accounts.

SECURE GMAIL ACCOUNT FROM BEING HACKED

..."Check if Your Gmail Account Has Been Hacked !". If you’re worried about email security, here is a step by step guide to help you check and determine if your Gmail account has been hacked or compromised in any way.

Step 1: Find the ‘Last Account Activity’ Section Your Inbox

At the bottom of your Gmail inbox there is a ‘Last Account Activity’ section. Click on ‘details’ to launch the full blown monitor.





Step 2: See who has accessed your Gmail account recently

Next, what you’ll see is a table of the most recent activity from your Gmail account. It shows you







Step 3: Understand the IP addresses – Has your Gmail really been hacked ?

If you see IP addresses from different countries, don’t be too quick to panic. If you use any 3rd party services which hook-up to your Gmail account, they will almost certainly show up in your activity log. To do you own investigation, you can use DomainTools to identify the IP address. This will help you differentiate normal activity and your Gmail account being hacked.

Code: [Select] [nofollow]

http://www.domaintools.com/





Step 4: Understand the alerts – Google’s way of highlighting suspicious activity

Google will also do it’s fair share of monitoring, and will also alert you if it sees suspicious activity both in your inbox, as well as your recent activity log. When this happens, and the IP addresses look suspicious, it is advisable to play it safe, assume your Gmail account has been hacked, and change your passwords immediately.






Step 5: Sign Out All Other Sessions – If you forgot to sign out on a public computer

If you are worried you did not not sign out of a public computer, you can ‘sign out all other sessions’. This won’t fix any hacked Gmail accounts, but it will resolve any careless mistakes. This is also useful if you happen to lose your mobile phone and you want to ensure your email is not read by others.



Step 6: What to do if your Gmail account has really been hacked ?

The first thing you do is change both your password and security question right away. Then make sure your new choices are very secure. Google themselves have some really good tips .

For example in the case of security questions:

* Choose a question only you know the answer to – make sure the question isn’t associated with your password.
* Pick a question that can’t be answered through research (for example, avoid your mother’s maiden name, your birth date, your first or last name, your social security number, your phone number, your pet’s name, etc.).
* Make sure your answer is memorable, but not easy to guess. Use an answer that is a complete sentence for even more security.

So there you have it. A step-by-step guide on fully understanding Gmail’s account activity log, and how to check if your Gmail account has been hacked .