Safer Internet Day 2009

Top tips to staying internet safe:

• Around two-thirds of all email received is spam which can threaten your security. Protect your computer from outside threats by ensuring that you have firewall and make sure that you keep it up to date. Even an hour without this kind of protection is likely to result in viruses and unwanted attention reaching your computer.
• If your children are using the internet make sure that the computer is always visible to you. Make up a family email address for your children to use if they need to, contact your service provider about the child protection measures that you can apply to your internet package and speak to your children about the sites that they visit and the people they chat to.
• Use a reputable web browser to search the internet and make use of the ability of your email accounts to block spam emails from unknown senders.
  
• Secure your Wi-Fi with a password only entry so that only you - and those that you want to be able to - can access the internet.
• Only open emails and attachments from people that you know well and trust. Downloading files from unknown sources is one of the quickest ways that a virus can reach your computer.
• Always think twice before transferring information from computers using a USB stick. You can easily pick up viruses from one and pass them on.
• Use different passwords for different websites. It may seem an obvious tip, but by choosing a password that includes your name or home town or by using the same password on numerous sites massively increases your chances of being a victim.
  
• Refrain from posting personal details about yourself on social networking sites - even a few pieces of information on your address, email, date of birth and your full name can make you an easy target for ID fraudsters.