Staying Safe On The Internet

The web has made accessibility and connection a child’s play. Everything is a click away. However, it also holds great amount of danger for the young and naive. Internet usage have , many times, proven dangerous fencing in individuals in its trap.

In this era, internet has become unavoidable. From children’s assignments to large business deals everything needs an internet connection at some point or the other but if not taken care of , you might find yourself in trouble. As most of you are going to be surfing the web, here are few dangers of the internet you need to aware of.

1.Cyber-Bullying

As internet provides the freedom to express to any person, at times people forget their limits and take bully to the internet, the person is embarrassed before a crowd. Hurtful words are spoken, rumours spread, people body shamed and the list goes on. There is also recent history of accounts being hacked to post absurd pictures and videos tricking people to think that the actual account holder has done it- much like a rude prank.

2.Exposure to Pornography

With easy access, any person of any age can easily access pornography on the internet. Due to lack of supervision, they may gradually get addicted to the filth internet might offer them. Frequent exposure to erotic contents may lead to mimicking things seen, or having casual sexual relationships etc.

3.Predating Strangers

With internet, you can be friends with any person from around the world. It is not always that the person will be safe to interact with. They might take advantage of the youngsters need to be liked and appreciated. Some might trick you in traps of video chatting, sex-ting or even tricking you into a meeting in person. Such stories never end up well. You may end up being blackmailed, kidnapped or even molested.

4.The Freedom to Broadcast

Through internet you can broadcast anything you wish. Everybody is free to share their own blogs or vlogs (video blogs) etc This often ends up being used in a harmful way. Some may use this advantage to broadcast nudity or information that could bring harm to others.

5.False Information

Most of you have developed a habit of surfing the net for solution for almost any problem. Not all are true information, if you fall for the false information and try it out , you may harm yourself .

As a result of all these, people and families are emotionally affected, losing their self-esteem, separating themselves from the rest of the world and in the worst case, causing self harm or suicide. Therefore you need to know how to stay safe on the internet, and this is what you need to do.

Keep your accounts safe. Do not use lazy and loose passwords for your profiles as they become easier to hack. And use different passwords for different accounts. Otherwise , access to one account would give easy access to all your accounts. In case you are hacked, change your password immediately.

Keep personal information personal. Whatever you post or upload are public and therefore it is best that you do not share any personal information online.

Try ignoring most stuffs you see. It might all be a prank. Even if you are being bullied on the net, ignore it and do not answer back. Your response would feed the abusers. Block the person and resort help of an elder or authority.

Know what you are getting yourself into. Do not click, agree or fall for things unless you are aware of what you are doing and if it will be safe for you.

Watch out for scams and spoof emails. These are usually fake mails asking for personal information or for money transfer. Either ways stay out of it, even if comes from a close friend’s email id.

Stay careful while using other systems or computers. Do not leave your accounts logged in or share your banking information on non-reliable computers.

Use anti-virus or security software on your computer to stay protected while using the internet. Use any one software like that of firewall or Norton or McAfee to protect yourself against any hacking or viruses that may spy on your system.

Internet usage by younger ones should be under the supervision of adults. This will keep them safe and also away from bad influences on the internet.

Internet is a huge world, where one might go lost if not careful. Staying safe on the web is important as it is a matter of one’s life. You need to be careful with every step you take, be yourself and stay intact even when you are drawn to something deceitful. One wrong decision and you may lose your name, respect and even money.