Ten tips for staying safe

Whatever device you use, make sure you install the latest operating system updates. Scammers can use any weaknesses as a way into your personal details and devices. Computer companies work hard to prevent these issues happening. Part of this is to try to keep your data safe with ‘software updates’.

Most device apps will tell you when an update is ready. Update these as soon as possible or when you receive the prompt to update from your device. Or, even better, set your updates to ‘automatic’.

So, how do you install them?

Services we use online such as email, online banking and shopping sites often ask us to create an account and password. Always protect your accounts with strong passwords. Don’t use the same password for more than one account.

So, what makes a strong password? It’s one that other people or software can’t easily guess. They can work out easy passwords, like the name of your street or your favourite sports team. If they guess right, someone could get into your account.

Scammers also use ‘password cracking’ software that quickly tests and guesses passwords for your accounts. So it’s best to try to think of something that has no link to you. Avoid common passwords like ‘password’ or ‘1234’, too.

How to create a strong password

Remembering your passwords

It might sound quite hard to come up with, protect and remember good strong passwords. There are ways to make this easier, though.

Here's how:

Sometimes, websites will ask you to set up a ‘secret question’ as well as a password. This helps identify you if you forget your password and need to reset it. It also gives your account an extra layer of protection.

So, what are these questions? They’re often things like: ‘what’s the name of your first pet?’, ‘what’s your mother’s maiden name?’ or ‘who was your best friend at school?’. The answers to these may seem very personal, but friends or family members could also know the answer. Could a scammer guess the answers? Maybe, if you post lots of information online about yourself.

It’s always a good idea to have a screen lock on all your devices. This can be a password, passcode, a fingerprint or face scan. When someone tries to use your device, it will ask for this.

Set your devices to ‘auto-lock’ if you haven’t used it after a certain time. For instance, you could set your phone to lock after 2 minutes. If you lost your phone and someone picked it up later, they wouldn’t be able to get into it.

Your device can do so many things. You may use it to store files, take photos, help you communicate, and even play music. This means it holds lots of personal data.

If it gets lost, stolen or scammed, you risk losing this data forever. Make sure you have a second copy of your data that is stored separately. This is a ‘back-up’.

There are two types of ‘back-up’ – offline and online:

It's important to know that the websites you visit are safe. If you can, only go to websites of organisations you trust. Be aware though, that scammers sometimes create copies of well-known websites.

So how do you know if the site is safe or a fake? Here's what to look for:

It’s a good idea to install software on your devices that can help find and protect you from online threats. Some even work on more than one device, so it’s worth looking into. Once you install the software, it runs in the background.

It can:

• Scan for and protect against threats.
• Help make your browsing safer.
• Add parental controls.
• Safely store your passwords and personal details.
• Back up your files.
• Stop people from using your camera to spy on you.
• Check if scammers are sharing your personal details.

Privacy settings are a big part of staying safe online. Your personal details can be very valuable to others, so check you have everything set up as safely as you can.

Here are some things you can do:

We know public Wi-Fi can be tempting, but it does carry some risks.

If you decide to access public Wi-Fi, be careful not to log into any of your accounts, especially your bank account. Want to know more about connecting to Wi-Fi safely? We have a lesson on our website.

Risks include:

It sounds simple, but one of the best ways to stay safe online is to be careful. Websites, emails, links, messages, texts, phone calls and ‘pop-up’ ads can all let scammers in.

Not sure whether what you’re looking at is genuine? It’s always best to ignore it and double check with a separate source or someone you trust.

Here are a few examples: