Practicing Internet Safety

Written by: 

Joel Caskey
Cybersecurity Manager & Partner
NET Xperts LLC

It’s hard to believe that we are already at the end of summer. It feels like it was May and then someone blinked and it was September! Soon enough, someone else will blink and before you know it, it’ll be the holiday season!

I wanted to take this opportunity to remind everyone of the concept of “practicing safe internetting”, as I like to say it. The cyberspace world is a big place with threats looming around every corner. 

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you’re out perusing the virtual world:

• Link Safety – Be aware and be careful what you click! This includes anything from links in E-mails sent to you to search results as you search for your new favorite pair of shoes. Make sure you are mousing over that link to make sure that it’s taking you to where you’re expecting it to go.

• • Pro Tip: Be cautious of “sponsored” links in search engines – they may not necessarily take you to where you are expecting to go!

• Unexpected Attachments – If you’re not expecting it, verify it’s real! If you receive an invoice from someone that you’re not expecting, there’s a good chance that it might be trying to lure you into giving financial information to a cybercriminal. Always verify the authenticity of received documents by using a known-good phone number.

• • Pro Tip: Do not call the phone number listed in an E-mail that you receive – this could connect directly to a cybercriminal. Always use a phone number you know is correct for the person or company in question.

• Look for the Lock – Any time you are entering sensitive information into a website (for example, a credit card number), you want to make sure you’re doing so safely. In the address bar of your browser, you’ll see a lock (in Chrome, click on the settings slider to the left of the address bar). This lock will indicate that the Connection is Secure.

• • Pro Tip: Also make sure that the domain name listed matches the site that you’re going to. Cybercriminals will try to disguise a bogus domain name with a real one, so on the surface, you might see google.com but the actual domain might be google.com.stealyourinformation.net. Make sure the domain names match.

Cybercrime is on the rise, and cybercriminals are trying to attack when you’re least expecting it. Arm yourself with knowledge and keep yourself safe out there!

User knowledge and training is an important first layer of your company’s cybersecurity, but it shouldn’t be the only layer. To secure your business with solutions that go beyond training and offer complete protection, call us today at 412-244-NETX (6389).