How to stay safe online

How to stay safe online



There are many ways to stay safe online. The first thing you should do is get a good anti-virus software this will prevent your computer from being infected by viruses.  There are many stories of people downloading fake anti virus’s software that access your bank account details. To prevent this you should only get anti-virus software from computer shops.  Also there are many viruses that have infected many computers this has resulted in loss of data and even destroyed important components of the computer.

There are many ways you can secure your one ways of doing this is encryption- this is a method of encoding data so that only the intended recipient can decode it. For example you can encrypt data on the hard drive of your computer so that if it is stolen it cannot be read. You can also encryption when connecting to the internet over a wireless link. This is very important if you are sending an important massage.

You will also need a firewall. This is a piece of software that examines all data arriving on your computer or network for the internet and rejects any that break the firewall rules. This can prevent computers from becoming infected by certain types of viruses. Firewalls also help prevent hackers from gaining unauthorised access to your system.

If you are getting anything over the internet use secure sites- when sending sensitive data over the internet (for example credit card details and passwords) it is important that the page you are using is secure. Secure web pages encrypted the data you send so that if anyone else intercepts it they cannot view it. In china the government have banned certain sites such as Facebook and twitter.

You should always back up your work there is no method that is guarantee to prevent data being lost or corrupted, so making regular backups is essential to keep important data safe.

You need to be careful of malware when on the internet. Malware is a piece of software designed to secretly access a computer system without the owner's informed consent. This means that your personal information is not safe. The number of malware (malicious software) samples that Symantec saw in 2009 was 71% higher than in 2008.

Phishing is a process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by pretending to be a trustworthy company.  In 2004 Nancy Boyle lost $1,800 from her online bank account. Then came the $800 credit card charge for escort services that she and her husband Dan never ordered. To prevent this you should only accept emails from trusted sites and always read the email carefully, if something is too good to be true it probably is. 

Spam is the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately. To reduce the amount of spam you get a spam filter. Spam mail takes up server space and bandwidth. Because it takes up server space it wastes a lot of money.

A big problem with the internet is Cyber-bullying. It involves the use of technology such as social websites (Facebook) to use hostile behaviour by an individual or group that is intended to harm others. Many people have been affected by cyber- bullying and have led to people committing suicide over this, for example in 2010 a boy killed himself because he did not know how to deal with it. There are many ways you can prevent this, you should tell your parents or a teacher.

Top tips for staying safe online

1. Only go on websites that you trust and accept emails form people you know.

2. Use a good antivirus program, spyware remover and firewall.

3. Do not give out any personal information such as bank details, passwords or phone numbers.

4. Beware of spoof email claiming to be from eBay, PayPal or your bank. 

5. Change your password every month or so. Also use unpredictable passwords. (A separate recent study revealed that 75% of people use the same password for Social Networking Sites and their email accounts)

6. If you decide to meet someone you found online go to a public place or go with a friend.

7. Always read fine prints on anything you sign up to on the internet. Also, make sure it’s a real website you are signing up to.

The Digital Divide

Technology has affected the world and people in many different ways for example

How we spend our free time: instead of going out with your friends people now can stay at home and talk to them over the internet or play games over the internet.  You can also watch sports over on TV and internet so you don’t have to travel to watch them this means that they will lose money on ticket sales.  For example I don’t have to go out and meet up with my friends because they are all on Xbox live and I can talk to them through that. Also with this new technology you can talk to people around the world.

Employment and working practices:  because of technology there has been a lot more jobs created. Also if you want to apply for a job you will need ICT skills, this could be bad for people who can’t use computers or just don’t want to.it can also be a problem if you did not grow up with a computer or learn to use one. This means if you want a new job you will be at a disadvantage to all of the people who did grow up around computers you will also have trouble finding a job where you don’t need to use a computer.

Sustainability: because there is a lot more technology around the world it requires a lot of power be able to use them. This causes a problem because resources are becoming scares and is also creating issues with the atmosphere. Also places in the world don’t have electricity they cannot have computers and other devices.

Ownership, copyright and plagiarism: a problem with the internet is that you can download movies and music from the internet this has led to the loss of money in the film and music industry. Also people can copy and paste information of a website and just say that is there’s. This means that they will get all the credit and the original author will get none.

Privacy of information: because all of your information is online nothing is personal. For example a girl posted on Facebook that she was bored at work and she got fired. Another case was a man who was delayed at an airport and he posted on twitter that he will destroy the airport and he got a £1000 fine.  

Local and national implications: there is now a wireless broadband being set up in worldwide called WIMAX. WIMAX is an IP based, wireless broadband access technology that provides performance similar to Wi-Fi networks. WIMAX will be free to everyone to use, this means that you will be able to use any device that uses WIFI, so you will be able to access your email and internet where ever you are.

Local and Global implications: when we are finished with computer we send them off to 3^rd world countries such as Africa and India for them to recycle, this releases harmful fumes which is inhaled by everyone and is causing health issues and environmental issues.