Design Data Corporation’s Stay Safe Campaign – covering best practices on security.
Online Activity
- Pay attention to website URLs – malicious sites may look identical to a legitimate site, but could use a variation in spelling, or include other typos or extra characters. They may also use a different domain, for example using .com rather than .org.
- Before entering or submitting sensitive information online, check the security of the website by ensuring it starts with https://
- Spam, phishing, and other scams aren’t limited to email. They’re also prevalent on social media sites. The same rules for email apply to social networks, the best course of action – when in doubt, throw it out.
- Malvertising or malicious advertising, which is the use of online ads to spread malware, can be difficult to avoid. Consider using an ad blocker software or browser extensions to block or alert of malvertising campaigns.
- Fake alerts and pop-ups can lock up your browser and even have a repeating audio warning you that your computer is infected. Never click on links or call any numbers provided, this includes not using the close/cancel button in the pop-up or using the X to close the window, as this could infect your computer. Become familiar with how to use task manager to “End Task.”
- Use caution when downloading anything online. Malware is commonly contained within downloads. Only download from trusted sources and only when needed.
- When you are done on a website that you were signed in to, remember to log out before closing the page.
