1. Limit your personal information. – Be careful what you post, as you could be revealing important personal details about yourself, which could be misused by scammers.
2. Check your privacy settings regularly as potential Employers or Customers don’t need to know your personal relationship status or home address! Remember… you can never be sure about those you meet online.
3. Be careful when opening emails and clicking on links from organisations you haven’t contacted yourself. – Go back to well-known internet browsers such as Google if searching for a website. If you are shopping on the internet, look for the padlock symbol next to the website address. Remember to log out when you have finished.
4. Use strong passwords. People tend to use easy-to-remember sequences, e.g. “123456” or “password” which are easy for cyber thieves to guess. A strong password should be unique and complex, the National Cyber Security Centre suggests using three random words put together e.g. wallbananapen.
5. Be aware of “fake news”. – Some sites will regularly promote false news with negative intentions e.g. to radicalise people. Radicalisation is the process where someone starts to have extreme political, social or religious views.
You can find more guidance on staying safe online here: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/
