Erasmus Hall Campus library

The truth is that there are some risks involved in socializing, playing, and communicating online. It can be easy to overshare, embarrass yourself, mess up your computer, and possibly get messages from creepy people. Whether you connect through a computer, tablet, or your phone, the best tool you have to help avoid risks online is your brain.

When you’re ready to post or send a message or a photo, download an app or music, or shop for something, stop for a second and ask yourself:

Do I know and trust who I’m dealing with – or what I’m sharing or downloading?
How will I feel if my information ends up somewhere I didn’t mean for it to be?

Asking a few key questions first can help you protect yourself, your friends, your accounts, and your devices.

Computer Security

Protecting your personal information. Social Security numbers, account numbers, and passwords are examples of information to keep private.
Watching out for "free" stuff. Free games, ring tones, or other downloads can hide malware. Don't download anything unless they trust the source and they've scanned it with security software.
Using strong email passwords and protect them. The longer the password, the harder it is to crack. Personal information, your login name, common words, or adjacent keys on the keyboard are not safe passwords. You can protect your passwords by not sharing them with anyone, including your friends.

When you’re done using an account, log out. Don’t stay permanently signed in to accounts

Everyone should use a password manager to generate and remember different, complex passwords for every account — this is the most important thing people can do to protect their privacy and security today.

Wirecutter’s favorite password managers are LastPass and 1Password. Both can generate passwords, monitor accounts for security breaches, suggest changing weak passwords, and sync your passwords between your computer and phone. Password managers seem intimidating to set up, but once you’ve installed one you just need to browse the Internet as usual. As you log in to accounts, the password manager saves your passwords and suggests changing weak or duplicate passwords. Over the course of a couple of weeks, you end up with new passwords for most of your accounts.

Companies and websites track everything you do online. Every ad, social network button, and website collects information about your location, browsing habits, and more

STALKER ADS

Consider what happens when you shop online for a wristwatch. You browse a few watch websites and the next thing you know, a watch advertisement is following you EVERYWHERE. On your computer, it’s loading in your Facebook feed. On your phone, it’s popping up on Instagram. In your web browser on either, it’s appearing on news sites that have nothing to do with watches. Even if you end up ordering the watch, the ads continue trailing you everywhere.

Lock down your phone in case you lose it

You need to ensure nobody can get into your phone if you lose it or someone steals it. Phones these days are encrypted by default, which is great, but you still need to take a few steps to ensure your phone is properly locked down if it disappears.

Use a strong passcode alongside your biometric (fingerprint or face) login
Set up your phone’s remote-tracking feature. If you lose your phone, you’ll be able to see where it is, and you can remotely delete everything on the phone if you can’t recover it. On an iPhone, head to Settings, tap your name, and then go to iCloud > Find My iPhone. On an Android phone, tap Settings > Security & location and enable Find My Device.