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Here are 6 tips to help you keep safe online!

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Whether or not you want to be an open book about your private life online or prefer keeping things, well private, Facebook has recently launched a handy page.

It explains how you can adjust privacy settings to your liking. 

The easy-to-use website breaks it down into three simple categories:

What others see about you | How others interact with you | What you see

Even with these tips though, it pays to revisit basic security dos.

Pay heed, or risk tasting the humiliation of seeing half-naked pictures of yourself posted all over the Internet.


Like this guy. Photo: TNP
 

1) Create a strong password

As Microsoft puts it: "Passwords are the first line of defence against unauthorised access to your computer."

Microsoft recommends that your password be at least eight characters long, does not contain words such as your name or age and have characters such as @, # or%.

So IheartTaylorSwift is a bad password but I

Of course, change your passwords on a regular basis. 

2) Don't use the same password for multiple logins

According to a survey done by computer security company McAfee, about 55 per cent of people ages 18-24 use the same password to access all sites.

So should just one of your passwords get compromised, all your logins are affected.

3) Learn how to use the privacy settings on social networks

Different people have different comfort levels as to what they share about themselves online.

So go through your social networks privacy settings to learn how to effectively limit what you share.

4) Don't overshare

This reminder comes from the Personal Data Protection Commission: "Once the information becomes publicly available, (it'll) be difficult for you to safeguard or manage how your personal data may be used."

So do not reveal your personal details such as credit card numbers, handphone number, your NRIC number or any login information to your social networks.

5) Make sure you are shopping from a secure website


An address that uses HTTPS. Photo: Internet screen capture

HTTPS stands for : Hypertest Transfer Protocol Secure.

A secure website tends to have "HTTPS" at the start of the address.

6) Don't click on suspicious links, accept friend requests from people you don't know, like that e-mail from a Nigerian prince

Scammers have been known to try various methods to gain access.

Don't be click-happy.

These tips are definitely not the fail-safe list though.

Have more suggestions? Tell us!

Sources: McAfee, Personal Data Protection Commission, Microsoft

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