So what does Cyber Crime mean? Cyber Crime are activities done using computers and the Internet. This includes anything from downloading illegal music files to stealing millions of dollars from online bank accounts. Cybercrime also includes non-monetary offenses, such as creating and distributing viruses on other computers or posting confidential business information on the Internet.
Here are some simple Do's and Don'ts to protect yourself from
being Cyber criminals and their devious schemes.
DON'Ts
1. Refrain from using passwords or user IDs that include personal information like your birthday or your Social Security Number.
2. Avoid using your mother maiden name as a security question. Pick something out of the ordinary like your pet's name and still not use it. For example, the real name of your pet is Bones, in the secret question field, use Vertebra instead. So in the even that even though they know the name of your pet and the what the secret question is, they still won't be able to find out what the answer to the secret question is.
3. Never leave your passwords in plain view. For example, in your monitor.
4. Refrain from using the same password and better, the same user ID for different sites. Because if they found out what your Facebook account password is, then they can log in to your different accounts like Yahoo! or Gmail and really mess things up.
DO's
1. According to the Pros, you should create passwords that are least 8 to 16 characters long. This includes a combination of small and capital letters. numbers and symbols. A good example would be: mYpas$wor(!958 According to the experts, these types of passwords are much much harder to crack.
2. Try using random pattern codes to create passwords. A neat example is to pick several computer keys, say two of them. For example, keys 4 and 7. Type straight down the keyboard from 4 until you reach the bottom, which is the letter V. Then type one character to the left. Next, do the same for 7, this time using uppercase letters. . You now have a random and meaningless password that reads 4rfvc7UMJN, but all you have to remember is 4 and 7. Or use the first letter of each word in a line from favorite song or poem.
3. Change passwords often about once a month.
4. If ever you encounter an unknown link, before you click it, just hover your mouse pointer on the link and look at the bottom of your browser. This will show you where the link is actually pointing to. Try to note of the wording before the last period of a URL(just to the left of .com, .org, .net etc.). This is important, for example, paypal.com is legit while paypal.321.com is fake.
5. Be careful with links that have the '@' symbol. Browsers tend to ignore everything left of it, so paypal@1234.com is not a PayPal site.
6. Watch for obviously misspelled sites like paypol.com or hsbvbank.com. This are usually fake phising sites intented to make you click.
Be smart. Stay safe. Follow this simple steps, and you can be quite safe from those petty hackers around their lurking and waiting for a an easy prey.
