Guest post from Nicole Balistreri , the coordinator for US based BitDefender's BitMoms.com community.
Hello Techmama readers!! Nicole here… resident BitMom aficionado and safe family surfing advocate. Let’s be honest – you’re lost without your gadgets, and your digital life is a huge part of your family. Everything from schedules to important family records is located on your PC (or Mac) and you would be in a real bind if something happened to any of that information.Also – let’s not forget about the wandering eyes of kids… hmm… indecent Google searches? Accidental virus downloads? We’ve all been there. No fear, take note of the simple tips below and your family will be surfing safer in no time.
- Exercise caution when you add personal data to your online social networking accounts! Keep the critical data to a safe minimum – this means no birthdays or family member names as passwords!
- When uploading photos – be aware that these photos could be used without your consent for advertising campaigns or, worse, for pornographic purposes. In order to discourage image theft, you might also add a watermark text on your pictures in areas where removal is impossible, or at least difficult.
- Use an alternative e-mail address for social networks, newsletters, ect in order to avoid spam which could be harmful to your computer.
- Use security software with a parental control feature! This provides comprehensive settings for web and application control as well as the ability to filter web, mail and instant messaging traffic for certain keywords.
- Use a good anti-malware solution. It will solve most of the problems you can encounter on Web: it can block spam, phishing attempts and prevent malware from infecting your computer, therefore keeping your private data safe. Make sure you update your antimalware, firewall and spam filters as frequently as possible, and that you don’t forget to scan your system often.
Nicole Balistreri is the coordinator for US based BitMoms.com an online community dedicated to promoting family internet safety sponsored by BitDefender and strategic partners. BitDefender is an award-winning provider of innovative anti-malware security solutions based in Bucharest, Romania. Visit www.bitdefender.com for more information.
Disclosure: This is not a paid post, I inquired for some safe surfing tips and asked that the information be shared on a guest post.
