Some people, like me, do everything online – banking, online shopping, downloading legal music and software, etc. Many other people are afraid or nervous about doing any of this online since they aren’t sure how safe it is. Here is a quick guide to some things that can make your online experience a safe and secure one.

All legitimate websites that are asking your for personal information especially websites that are asking for credit card info are running a secure connection. This means that any information you enter in is encrypted on your computer before being sent over the internet and then decrypted only when it reaches the authorized server. All major companies use this method. How can you tell if the site you are entering your data is secure? The three major browsers (Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Firefox) have a visual cue to show a site is secure

Internet Explorer has a gold lock at the end

Google Chrome has a Green Lock at the beginning

Firefox highlights the domain name in blue and has a gold lock in the bottom right-hand corner of the browser (which is not an obvious place to put it).

Besides from these visual cues there is one universal way to tell if a site is secure. Instead of the domain name having http:// it has https:// – the “s” means it is secure.

Another step you can take is run your browser in a “private mode”. This opens a new browser window which does not keep any cookies or any other history of your browsing. The names vary slightly between browsers but they all do the same thing.
Internet Explorer = InPrivate Browsing (look under the Safety menu)
Google Chrome = New Incognito window (click on the wrench at the top right)
Firefox = Start Private Browsing (under Tools)

Lastly, use a strong password! Don’t be one of those people who use the same password for everything. If you want to test how strong a password is go to HowSecureIsMyPassword.net and see how long it would take to break your password. The main problem with various and strong passwords is that it’s hard to remember all of them. For this I use LastPass. This website (and browser add-on) lets you create one master password to access your account and then it manages all the passwords for your various accounts and automatically logs you in. For a new password you can either choose your own password or have LastPass generate one for you. The great thing about LastPass is that you can log into your account from any computer to look up a password – plus it’s free.

As long as your computer is protected from viruses, is free of malware and you are aware of these few tips then you can have safe and secure experience online.