Stay Safe, Stay Home...

6th April 2020

For the safety of all humanity

Well, it’s an interesting time for humanity at present don’t you think?

For many of us, our lives have been transformed in a multitude of ways; things that we took for granted have had to be stopped or altered for the safety of one and all.

Key workers are having to work harder than ever in order to keep us all safe and well, including providing essential services.

What is the meaning of this?

That word ‘safe’ has multiple meanings don’t you think?

If we consider ourselves and others, staying safe could be interpreted currently as social distancing, ensuring we wash our hands and staying at home to protect the NHS.

Questioning myself

However, in light of all the remote working that is taking place due to COVID-19, the word safe takes on a different meaning.

I’ve just been in an online meeting myself with fellow colleagues using Zoom, a piece of free software that allows users to hold online video meetings with multiple users and this got me thinking just how safe are we online? And asking the question, are we ever completely safe?

Sounding slightly pessimistic

Well, the answer could be, no, we aren’t ever completely safe. How can we be with ever changing threats, scammers finding new ways to gain information and use their technical knowledge for detrimental effects.

So, what can we do?

The answer is simple, we should do all we can to reduce the possibility of vulnerability.

Here are some of the best ways in which you can stay a little safer online:

Create different passwords for all of your personal online accounts.
Use complex passwords including [lowercase, uppercase, numbers and symbols].
Use a firewall to block unauthorised access to your home network, whether this be your laptop, your phone or even your baby monitor!
Think about what you are sharing, such as your personal information and your location; does Solitaire really need to know where you are in the world?
Keep your software up to date to ensure you have the latest security patches.
Look out for websites and emails with misspellings, these are often fake or malicious.
Websites you visit with purchasing facilities should have ‘https’ at the beginning and a padlock symbol signifying that the website is both secure and that your data is encrypted when being transferred over the internet.
Consider using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) especially when using public Wi-Fi to create a secure connection when using online services.