---

Every three seconds someone’s identity is stolen on the Internet. The enormous growth in popularity of social media, which have become a big phenomenon of the digital world we live in today, has also brought some unwanted occurrences. Cybercriminals have been given an invitation of sorts to access the vast amount of personal data that users leave on social media. This especially applies to the most popular social network, Facebook, which has more than a billion users, the vast majority of whom access the network daily.

START TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF ON THE INTERNET

Even those who think they are careful and take care of their privacy settings on social media can fall victim to cybercriminals, especially if they allow different apps to access their social profiles.

By publishing information such as your location, date of birth and family connections, you are putting your other accounts such as your bank account and online storage account at risk.

WHAT DATA DO WE LEAVE ON THE INTERNET?

• • Identification data

• • Ethnicity

• • Gender

• • Medical and health information

• • Search traces

• • Traces of our social contacts

• • Personal photos

• • Credit card number

WHO WANTS TO HACK ANOTHER PERSON OR COMPANY AND WHY?

A hacker is an enthusiast who, in short, loves computer technology and all its aspects, whose knowledge is very extensive. Today, the word hacker is used incorrectly, and is a synonym for a user who without permission wants to gain access to somebody computer, Internet resource or just wants to choke Internet traffic on a certain page. Hacker actually means a computer enthusiast.

There are many types of hackers today. The first are white hat hackers, security experts who in most cases are employed by companies whose main activity is removing security flaws in software and other activities related to stopping hackers. Black hat hackers are actually crackers. Script kiddies represent younger or older people who do not understand computers and computer technology at all, instead they acquired knowledge with a couple of manuals and started to destroy (deface) unprotected Internet pages one by one. In hacker communities around the world script kiddies are hated and considered parasites.

Cracker refers to a hacker who crosses the thin line between legal and illegal, who uses his knowledge for personal gain, destruction of other people’s property, etc. It often boils down to hacking various unprotected websites and similar illegal actions. Hacker is often confused with cracker, but they are very different.

Main corporate blogging benefits include raising awareness, expanding your mailing lists, driving traffic to your website, and differentiating your brand from competitors.

WHY DO CRACKERS HARM OTHER USERS ON THE INTERNET?

• • Financial gain

• • Theft of private information

• • Personal aspirations to destroy installed, useful software

TIPS FOR MAXIMUM PROTECTION WHILE SURFING ON THE INTERNET

1. Do not open e-mail from unknown sender addresses

If you get an email about how to change your password somewhere, don’t download or click anything until you’re sure the email came from an official source. In support, any downloaded material could do you a lot of damage. Be sure who you are communicating with.

2. Regularly update the device through which you surf the Internet

With each new update, the updated device gets more opportunities and information to defend against potential malicious intrusions or installations.

3. Use strong passwords

Always try to make sure that the passwords you set on your Internet profile accounts are not simple and contain as many letters and symbols as possible. In this way, you will make it more difficult to potentially “crack” your codes.

4. Use two-step authentication

Two-factor authentication requires you to verify your identity after logging in using your username and password. In some cases, you will be asked to verify your identity by entering a code sent by SMS to your phone or email. In other cases, you will need to answer a security question. This may make it less likely that other people will be able to log into your accounts.

5. Do not post important personal information on your social media profiles

Details like phone number, address, which school your children go to, how old they are, etc., somehow open the door for cybercriminals to find out many more things about you. You should not accept people you do not know as friends on Facebook. Also, in your profile, provide as little information as possible about yourself and be selective when it comes to the Like button, that way you will keep a certain privacy, hackers will find you much more difficult.

6. Protect your Wi-Fi router

Password protect your WiFi router so that hackers near you can’t use it for malicious activities.

7. Make sure the web address uses https://

This is very important, especially with online payments. Before entering payment details, on any site, check if you have switched to a secure channel ie. whether the web address now starts with “https” or still starts with “http”. The main idea of the HTTPS protocol is to create a secure channel over an unprotected network such as the Internet. It provides protection against potential attacks. In cases where you need to enter some very important information (for example, when paying on the Internet), be sure to check whether the website uses a secure channel for communication (https://), if not, do not enter your data.

8. Accept only necessary “cookies” on websites

The popular “Cookies” are increasingly necessary for marketers whose advertising channels are Google and similar search engines. However, through cookies, you leave unnecessary information codes that could negatively affect you in the future if you become the target of a hacker attack.

9. Browse third-party applications

You can improve the security of the applications you use by limiting the number of connections they have with other applications. Many applications and programs offer the possibility of creating a new profile or logging in using the Social Login functionality. Using existing login details downloaded from providers such as Facebook, Twitter, Apple or Google, a user can log in to a site, app or software with one click instead of creating a new account independently. While this functionality simplifies registration and login for end users, it also carries with it security threats.

10. Avoid unsecured Wi-Fi networks

If possible, try to avoid accessing unsecured public Wi-Fi on your devices. Using it may make you vulnerable to hacking. And if you must use it, avoid entering compromising information, such as your bank insurance card number or financial information, on any website. Better yet, use a VPN or virtual private network to browse when you’re not at home. This will encrypt the data you send and receive, making it much harder to intercept.

11. Back up your data regularly

When you back up your data, you can make certain types of security breaches less of a problem. If a hacker encrypts your data and demands a ransom to decrypt it, it won’t be such a big deal if you backed it up a week ago.

In addition to the above tips for protection on the Internet, you should always be concentrated and focused on all potential threats lurking on the Internet. If we imagine that the website is one big street, then we know that the people on the street are also very different, you never know from whom you are in danger.

After all, you should not be afraid of the Internet, it is something that has made the whole world a lot better, and by taking care of yourself, you are taking care of maintaining that improvement.