We live in a time where internet security is a big concern. Now being plunged to stay at home as much as possible, we must be careful more than ever to be safer online.
There are Free tools and technology that we can use to be secure while maintaining productivity that can help us with the following.
· Password Manager
· VPN
· Search Engine
· Anti-Virus
Password Manager
Passwords can be one of the most vulnerable points of attack. We humans are told to use random and hard to guess passwords But ask yourself, how different are your passwords from each other? How random are the characters in your passwords? Are your passwords related to your life? If it is then it is not very random is it. If one of the websites you frequently visit get their user password list stolen from their users, will you be affected on all your accounts?
VPN
If you are concerned about how much information you are revealing when you connect to the internet, a VPN is what you need. One of the biggest reasons you should consider using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) is to protect yourself against location tracking. The data can be used for all sort of targeted unsolicited information. Put it this way, are you comfortable if all your acquaintances learned your home location, your movements, the sites and apps you visit and use?
A VPN can be used to combat this by connecting to another location around the world before you connect to your website, concealing your connection and ensuring anonymity.
ExpressVPN is a well-known VPN for good reason. Easy to use, steady and failsafe. Although not completely free, it does have a useful 30-day hassle-free trial to really get the feel and capabilities of it. It is simple, high speed and intuitive which makes internet browsing that much secure.
Search Engine
The world's most undisputed search engine is Google, with more traffic than your local city gridlock and an iron clad hold on the market share at 91.54% ( https://www.webfx.com/blog/seo/2019-search-market-share/). That’s a lot of traffic. Check out https://trends.google.com/trends/hottrends/visualize?nrow=3&ncol=3 - live search results happening around the world, giving you a tiny insight into how much the search engine tracks. Those of you that have seen The Social Dilemma (Netflix, 2020) will know how vulnerable we really are when online.
Duck Duck Go is a quality search engine with an emphasis on user privacy. When searching online it won't log your session information, it doesn't store your IP and only uses cookies when required. If privacy, security and targeted advertisement concerns you, then this is a valuable tool to use to protect yourself.