Hello readers and welcome to my FIRST BLOG POST OF 2021
I am so excited for the new year. I am working hard in the background to cook up something good for my life. I will give more details on that later... For now : Online Security...
In this day and age of online hackers and phishing attempts, we could all use a little "FAKE" in our lives... It's GOOD to be FAKE ! What I mean is : Hackers are trying hard to steal your personal information. So I have a few tips on how to beat the hackers "BEFORE YOU GET HACKED".
1. When you create a Facebook, Twitter, or other social media account, there is always a chance of being hacked. Nothing is 100% absolutely unhackable. Here is the golden rule of thumb. They can ONLY get the info that "YOU" put out there, knowingly or unknowingly. So if you "ONLY" use fake information from the very start, and you get hacked, they can ONLY get the info that you allowed them to obtain. Therefore they actually get NOTHING. So if they want your information so bad, just give it to them... Fake information all the way...
1A. Use a Fake name, Fake birthdate, and set up a dummy e-mail just for social media accounts alone.
2. Always use a fake birthday. Example : If your birthday is August 15th, 1976, use October 31st, 1985. You can use anything that makes you over 18 years old. Just never your real date of birth. If you fake it out from the beginning in the creation of your online accounts, you never need to worry about hackers because they will never get your real info since it was never used in the first place. Also, if some of your online friends wish you a happy birthday on that day and it's NOT REALLY YOUR BIRTHDAY... JUST SAY : Thank you and nothing else !
3. Location tagging... In your phone, tablet, and computers, always turn your location off. If there are apps that require it, always use a fake location. If you are in New York, use Las Vegas, NV, or anyplace you like, just never where you are truly located. I don't know what's worse, hackers or stalkers, YIKES !
4. Phishing... We all get e-mails that look closely like the real thing. A sale at Best Buy, a notice to verify your accounts, You owe a debt and we are going to put you in jail unless you pay, or you need to verify your banking details, Blah Blah Blah. There are many examples of slick phishing attacks. You see the logos of the real business, and it says it's that it's from them, but some easy ways to spot the fakes are to look for "misspellings", look at the direct e-mail address it came from, look at the poor quality images, and of course, you can simply call the "Supposed Business" directly to verify the communication. And remember : whatever you do - DON'T CLICK ON ANY LINKS IN THE E-MAIL at all. Mark it as SPAM, Block the sender or just delete it. Trust your own instincts and just use common sense.
5. Always use a good strong virus scanner software and make sure you always keep it up-to-date every time you use your devices, like a ritual of habit.
6. Where ever and whenever possible, stay behind a good firewall and VPN.
7. Stay OFF public wifi. If you are at a restaurant, in a store, at a mall, or even in a hospital, many places offer free wifi these days. Here is simple wisdom : JUST DON'T USE IT ! It may be FREE, Easy, and Convenient, but so is getting hacked and easily giving away all your information as well.
8. Do a FULL SYSTEM virus scan weekly at least. Never go too long without scanning your system. A clean sweep is always good, as a regular cleansing of your body. It's just needed and good common sense to do regularly.
9. When you close your browser, remember to clear your history and cache files. You can also set your browsers to clear automatically when you close them.
10. Use the masking features of your browser to hide your online searches. FireFox has a good masking feature. I personally recommend using "DuckDuckGO". If you have any online privacy concerns, DuckDuckGo has your back.
11. Start looking up YouTube videos of Internet Privacy and educate yourself. There are many of them out there. Here is a YouTube channel that I PERSONALLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND : Rob Braxman Tech.
12. Last but not least... Change your passwords often. Create a "Password System" that works for you. Here is an example of a "Password System" (You can create your own). Write out a sentence and use the First letter of each word and combine it with numbers and a symbol. Also use a Capital letter as well somewhere in the password. Remember, passwords are "CaSe SensaTIVe"
12A. (Password Example) : I love my god + numbers like (example) 2021 and a symbol. In this :"example", your password would come out to be : "Ilmg202!". Get it !
I hope these online security tips help you. Remember the goal is Online Privacy and protecting yourself at all time. Finally, if you are worried about something getting out there or getting hacked, just remember, if you don't want something out there, DON'T PUT IT OUT THERE TO BEGIN WITH ! Oh and tell ROB that The Fox sent you... See Number 11...
