We’ll we’ve talked about it before, and we’ll do it again.
Phishing.
It’s when you get an email, that says it’s from Ebay or your bank … or us, and asks you for your password, or gives you a link to login to, or … whatever. But if you do, then naughty people have access to your information and you spend the next 3-6 months fixing your credit cards, or email account or … whatever.
Here’s the thing: The Internet is not secure. It’s not nice. It’s not safe. Not really.
You CAN safely surf the internet and bank online and buy things on eBay. CAN. Please don’t assume that everything you do online is “safe”, “secure” and “anonymous”.
Here’s a list of digital weirdness to avoid:
- Phishing
- Email attachments
- Websites containing questionable material
- Websites asking you to install a plug-in
- Reasonably normal software asking you to install a Toolbar
- Floppies. Seriously.
- Free wallpaper, screensavers
- Emails from people in foreign countries offering to send you $
- Links in emails or social networking sites to generic places like “my beach pictures”
- “Free” antivirus (besides AVG or something from a known provider)
- Entering personal information into a page without the magic golden lock
You know, we really do like answering questions. Ask us! We like to help. Have you asked 20 times already? Ask again! We’d much rather answer a 20 second question, then have to take your machine for 4 hours and rebuild it from scratch. So would you 🙂
I’m going to be releasing an Internet Security video soon. It’ll give everyone a brief overview of things to do (and not to do) and how to stay safe on the Internet.
Best practice: If you’re not sure – don’t. Wait and ask us. We’re happy to help.