Police Offering Tips on How to Protect Yourself Online

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Published January 2, 2019 at 11:03 pm

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We’re all living in an online world most of the time.

Everything these days is done on the computer, no question about it. And with that comes greater risks, as people have often encountered situations where their identity online has been compromised and personal information was accessed by hackers and such.

Peel Regional Police have some safety tips when it comes to protecting yourself from being a victim of cyber crime, whether at home or elsewhere.


Here’s some ideas on better home network protection:

  • Keep your browser updated.

  • Install trusted protection programs and keep them updated (i.e. anti-spyware, anti-virus software and firewalls).

  • Make sure all your WIFI networks are password protected.

  • During router setup, change the administrator password from its default.

“With the advancement of password-cracking software, hackers are now able to crack your password within a matter of seconds. To protect your account privacy and information, creating unique and secure passwords that are not easy to guess is the first line of defense,” the police say in regards to setting up passwords:

  • Make sure each password is different from others.

  • Never share your passwords with anyone.

  • Regularly change your passwords.

  • Try not to use words that could be found in the dictionary.

  • Try not to use alphabetic or number sequences – 1234, abcd.

  • Use a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols.

  • Use short sentences or phrases as your password (e.g. the phrase “I get up at 6:15, but am sometimes late!” becomes the password Igua615,BasL8! In this example, the password can’t be found as a word in any dictionary).

[video: https://youtu.be/Alc2VgOUNFA]

And finally, backing up your files is crucial in the event your computer gets compromised and you lose all those files you’ve carefully stored over the years.

“Backup your computer files to prevent permanent file and data loss from computer infections, damage and unexpected accidents. Computer back-ups are copies of your original files that allow you to recover them if damaged. Consider using an external hard drive or a Cloud storage solution to backup your files regularly.”

For more information from Peel Police on preventing cyber crimes, click here.

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