How To Tell If A Website Is Safe To Visit Before It's Too Late - Knock! Knock! Who's There?

By Author: Ifida Known
Total Articles: 7
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SEX isn't the only place you need full protection. Stopping a digital perpetrator takes precautionary measures as well. Just as in any relationship; building trust on the internet is a must.

We're reminded of our mothers' words of wisdom ‘Don't talk to strangers! Be aware of your surroundings! Don't take candy or cookies from strangers! Do your homework - First! Always have clean underwear on when you leave the house! Mom didn't know her advice transferred to the internet, too.

It's important to know whose site you're visiting and what they really offer before you share much of your information or data. If you don't feel good about the connection don't explore it any further. Be aware of your surroundings and rely on your instincts and the advice and recommendations of trusted friends and family. You wouldn't give your credit card information to just anyone. Don't do it on the internet either. If you're unsure, build a relationship slowly and methodically. Make website owners gain your trust and confidence.

When you visit a site you're not familiar with, treat it as you would a stranger. ...
... You can still connect with them, but give only a minimal amount of information until you're sure they can be trusted. Gradually you will build a working relationship with reliable sites and businesses. Trust what they say, but verify what they say is accurate.

Safety measures to ensure better experiences

Check to see if there is a safety certificate or security verification on the site. This will increase a site's authenticity and your internet privacy protection.

Rely on the referrals from friends, family members or other trusted online sites. When you find a great site refer it to your friends as well, thus assisting them to be safer while promoting those sites that are trustworthy and worth visiting.

Be aware of your surroundingsDomain names and their extensions can offer a pretty clear image as to their reliability, for instance, .gov or .edu or .org. Commercial sites that use .com, .biz, .net or others should be approached with a bit more care.

For those sites you're less familiar with, look for contact information and personal or professional credentials. Those who do not identify themselves and who are impossible to contact should not be considered as trustworthy sources of information. (Remember Mom saying, An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.)

Read product reviews and reader reviews when available. A good review tells you if a site or program is trustworthy and what you can expect.

Two computer newsletter sources that are known to be reliable are WorldStart and Cloudeight. Both of these sites test and recommend safe sites, alerting users to better protect themselves from innocently downloading viruses, worms and digital diseases.

The Libarian's Internet Index is a searchable database of websites that have been found by professional librarians to be trustworthy and reliable sources of information.

Think twice about what you're downloading. (Remember Mom saying Do Your Homework - First?) If you're downloading anything that makes your computer do something, then don't download it unless it's from a trusted source.

If you're posting any of your personal information or data in a chat room or on social networking sites such as Myspace, Facebook, or Linkedin, know that once you post it, it's out there permanently. A lot of phising and spear-phishing attacks come from hacking and identity theft from surfing social networking sites looking for in-depth personal information posted by naive users.

If a site looks like it's exactly what you need, make sure you have clean underwear on when you leave the house in the form of a firewall, anti-spyware and anti-virus programs to avoid problems. If you connect to one of those infected sites and a perpetrator tries to hack your system, your firewall should warn you. Your software should then prompt you Do you want to allow it? Yes or No In general the response to that would be no unless you are requesting information.

Don't be afraid to make and build new friendships on the World Wide Web. There's a lot to experience and enjoy; just be aware, be safe and remember Mom's words of wisdom.

And now I'd like to invite you to go to http://www.powerofprivacy.com and get your FREE instant access to Your Ultimate Guide to Privacy from Ifida Known, America's Ambassador for Privacy, Safety, Security, Identity and Assett Protection . Other articles written by Ifida Known are available at http://www.IfidaKnown.com. Copyright 2005-2008 © Ifida Known Enterprises LLC