With the rise in distance learning, there has also been a rise in cybersecurity threats that students are facing. And when we consider just how much personal information we put on the internet these days, it becomes essential to protect our digital identities and belongings just as we do in real life. Because of how swiftly online education has grown in the past couple of years because of COVID, teaching students about internet safety has become more important than ever before.
Here are the 5 main safety tips that everyone needs to follow in order to stay safe while in cyberspace.
Keep Your Privacy Settings On
The first thing to do whenever you make an online account, especially on a social media platform, is to keep your privacy settings turned on. If you’re a student and you’ve ever had to read up on this issue, you’ll find this tip in most of the examples when you choose internet and cyber security essays to do your research. These essay samples will tell you how and why marketers value your information and social media usage patterns so much. Such information provides them with immense financial value. It also helps the platform customize the ads you see.
But another party that is very interested in this data is hackers. If they get their hands on sensitive information like banking details, you can face some serious problems. That is why you should always go through the privacy settings offered by the platform you’re using. Ensure that you only allow that information to be gathered which is essential to the platform’s inner workings.
Choose Strong Passwords
For many students, safe online browsing becomes highly risky because of weak passwords that are easy to guess. This is one of the worst things you can do to put your internet safety at risk. Moreover, using the same password on multiple websites is not advised. If a hacker gets into one of your accounts, they can potentially hack all of your accounts with the same password. Remember that even the biggest companies like Uber can’t protect themselves against getting hacked. So, always use strong passwords with a variety of alphabets, numbers, and symbols.
If you find it hard to remember such passwords, use a secure password manager to store them all for you. If you do this, be sure to use a master password that isn’t easy and has multiple characters. You’ll need to remember just this one password and the software will store all the others.
Back Up Critical Files
Students have a lot of important work on their systems that they can’t afford to lose because of a virus or another kind of attack. Therefore, backing up important files is critical to ensure that all your hard work is safe somewhere else if you ever get hacked. You can use physical hard drives to back up your data or use a cloud storage solution to do so. Remember to use a strong password for your cloud storage account if you choose to use such a solution.
While this won’t help students in staying safe from hackers, it will at least help them access files they’ve been working on for weeks or months if their systems ever get compromised.
Avoid Email Phishing Scams
One of the worst things that can happen to you is a phishing scam. These scams are a kind of cyber attack that lures people into clicking on a link they shouldn’t. Usually, such links are emailed along with gift offers that seem too good to be true. On other occasions, hackers will craft a very convincing email that one of your accounts has been hacked or is facing some other security-related issue. They will then ask you to click on a link to change your password or provide certain information. When you click on such a link, a webpage resembling the real deal opens up where you put in your account credentials. This page then transmits all of your keystrokes to the hackers, and they get access to your account.
To avoid phishing scams in cyberspace, always double-check security and promotional emails. One aspect that gives away a phishing attempt is the sender’s email address. Make sure that the email address is a legitimate one and doesn’t have any small changes in the spelling, etc.
Use Two-Factor Authentication
Among the safest ways to practice internet safety in cyberspace is to use two-factor authentication. There are many benefits of this security measure. When you turn 2FA on, you will have to not only put in your password to the website you’re logging into but also a separate code. This code is usually sent to your mobile phone. You may also be able to use services like Google Authenticator to generate this security code. This means that even if a hacker gets access to your password, they will not be able to log into your account as long as they don’t have access to your personal devices where they can see your messages.
Summary
The internet has given us a lot to be thankful for, like online learning. Students are able to access their classes from anywhere in the world, helping them get educated and also save a ton of money. However, without proper care and safety measures, a student’s identity and possessions in cyberspace can be severely threatened thanks to cyber criminals. Following the 5 simple tips in this guide is a great way to protect yourselves on the internet though, so be sure to adopt safe browsing habits whenever you surf the internet.
