What is Online Security?
Internet security is a broad term that refers to a wide range of tactics that aim to protect activities conducted over the internet.
—McAfee Antivirus
With so much of our information online nowadays, it is important to stay secure online. There are many risks you can face online, including:
- Trojan Horse Virus
- Malware (software meant to disrupt, damage or gain unlawful access to a computer system) —Google Dictionary that is pretending to be an application when you install it (named after the Trojan Horse story)
- Phishing scams
- A website or user who appears trustworthy, but is actually a scammer and tries to get your information
- Ransomware
- Software that locks or encrypts information and demands money to access it i.e. holding it for ransom
Below are just some of the ways you can stay safe online.
Links and Downloads
Many websites on the internet have sketchy links. Clicking a link without knowing if it is safe could send you to a scam website. To be sure that a link is safe, check it with VirusTotal's virus detector.
Spam emails contain sketchy links that may lead to scam websites or virus downloads. If you come across a sketchy email, follow the steps on the right.
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