Recently, in one of my discussions with a small business owner about how to leverage the various features of the mobile device and online world for marketing and customer acquisition, it became apparent that many small business owners, even those that are pretty tech savvy and use the internet extensively, often overlook or are not aware of some basic ways to be safe while browsing online and some simple tools, often free, can be be of such immense help. So, below are 5 ways to be safe online:1. Install a reputable anti-virus program. If you are using a PC or mobile device that uses Android OS, installing a antivirus program is a must. There are many antivirus programs available, some paid & some free. I have found that for basic web browsing, email activity and mobile devices, AVAST (www.avast.com) is a great program. It has a free version, which is consistently rated as one of the best solutions and it has a mobile version too that can installed in the mobile device. Full disclosure, I personally have been using the the AVAST free version for the last 2 years and have found it comparable to some of the best. They have continuous live updates and have a very user friendly dashboard. AVG(www.avg.com) also has a free version but I personally did not find it as good as AVAST. For the paid ones, Norton (www.norton.com), Webroot(www.webroot.com) & Kaspersky(www.Kaspersky.com) are some of the best rated as of now. Also, make sure that the antivirus programs is updated regularly.
2. Use a Strong Password. Make sure that, first & foremost, you are password protecting your desktop and mobile devices. Secondly, make sure that you are using a strong password. I know, remembering passwords, especially these days when everything requires a password can be difficult. For non-critical sites such as emails, subscriptions, newsletters, etc. I have been using Lastpass (www.lastpass.com) for the last 3 years. This is a great program as it can be installed on almost all browsers, automatically captures site information & login information when you sign up for any service, rates the strength of your password and helps generate strong passwords. There are many ways to generate strong passwords, the simplest one I have found is to make sure that it is at-least 8-10 characters, contains alphabets, numbers & signs and has at-least 2 Upper cases. 3. Update Your Browser & Use Safe Sites. Make sure that you are using the most recent version of your browser and that its "Safe Search" is turned on. These days, almost all the popular browsers (IE, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.) have their safe search mode turned on by default. This function will warn you if any site that you are visiting is not safe or contains malware. 4. Don't Clicking on links that you don't know where they will take you. Quite often we receive emails or pop-ups that offer links to other sites. If you are not sure or have even an iota of doubt as to the purpose of the link, do not click on it. 5. Do Your Due Diligence. As users, it is our responsibility that we are always alert when browsing to make sure that the sites that we are visiting, the links that we are clicking on or the password / username that we are creating are strong & safe. Do not post your SSN number or other personal details just because someone is asking for it.
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Writer & EditorHi, my name is Sunil Srivastava and I am the writer, editor and compiler of this blog. I am a serial Entrepreneur, Project Manager & Business Coach with a passion for Technology, Marketing, Hospitality, Business Development & Coaching, This is my effort to help as many people as I can by sharing my knowledge & expertise that I have obtained in my extensive career spanning 2 decades and 3 continents. Let the journey begin ...... Archives
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