Connect with us

Desktop Tools

5 Easy Ways to Increase Online Privacy and Prevent Identity Theft


Advertisement

While antispyware and antivirus software is designed to help protect computer users from potential threats such as identity theft, sometimes it’s not enough to stop hackers from acquiring and exploiting sensitive information such as banking info. With that said, below are some simple ways computer users can fortify their online privacy protection and prevent identity theft.

5 easy ways to prevent identity theft


5. Read Website Privacy Policies Carefully

Many computer users are annoyed whenever they get solicited emails from companies, especially if they did not sign up to receive those emails. But in actuality, you may have unknowingly given your e-mail address voluntarily if you didn’t read a particular web site’s privacy policy. A web site privacy policy is an electronic document that web sites post in order to explain the terms and conditions that a computer user must abide by in order to look at a particular web site. That privacy policy may explicitly state that your user info, including email address, IP address and browsing history may distributed to a third party. While typically this personal info is given to companies for marketing purposes, it may be accessible to people who want to exploit this information. So make sure to always know what you’re getting yourself when using a particular site.


4. Clear the Memory Cache

Every time you browse the web and click on a website, your computer carefully documents which pages, images and sites you’ve clicked on. This is called the memory cache. While this process is completed in order to speed-up a web page’s loading time and prevent the hassle of having to retype information, this is how third parties can potentially access private information. Your memory cache can especially expose important information for those that share a computer with family, roommates or coworkers. Thus ultimately clearing out your computer’s memory cache from time to time can potentially safe-guard your privacy and prevent you from becoming a victim of identity theft. If you are unfamiliar with how to clear your memory cache, Information Technology Division offers directions on how to clear the memory cache of leading web browsers.


3. Encrypt Email

Like everything else that is on the Internet, once it is posted online it is permanently embedded in cyberspace— even if it is deleted. While professional hackers can still find ways to retrieve deleted documents like emails, that doesn’t mean you can’t do things to make the process of recovering those deleted emails more difficult than usual. A good way to do this is to encrypt your emails. Chances are if your info is somewhat tedious to recover, hackers will just skip you and target someone else who is more easily accessible. Most email providers like Internet Explorer Outlook already have encryption built-in, all you have to ensure that there is a secure connection (SSL). If you do not know how to check for this, the University of Colorado at Boulder provides step-by-step directions on how to encrypt some popular email programs. To see if your Gmail is secure, all you need to do is check the address bar when accessing your email. If it says “https://” as opposed to “http://” then it is secure. If it is not secure, access your Gmail account and then go to option settings>general>browser connection> click on “always use https.” You can also purchase encryption software.


2. View Secure Web Pages

In addition to your emails being secure, you also want to make sure that the web pages you access are secure as well, especially if the web page requires you to enter billing information. An easy way to check whether a web site is secure aside from looking for “https://” is to look for a closed pad lock on the address bar. But since some illegitimate companies are sneaky enough to forge pad lock images, it’s always a good idea to double click on the pad lock and view the website’s certificate. Does the name on the certificate and website not correlate? Is the certificate outdated? These are red alarms that the security of the web site can’t be trusted.


1. Reject or Delete Cookies

Computer cookies are coded info that is stored in your computer’s hardware every time you visit a web site. While their true purpose is monitor your “typical” internet activity and habits in order to speed up loading time, these cookies can contain viruses or be used by marketers to locate certain consumers. About Cookies.org provides a great handout explaining how to delete or reject potentially threatening cookies. Note that some cookies are needed in order to surf certain websites and thus you may need to adjust your settings accordingly.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Desktop Tools

Smallest Antivirus to Automatically Remove Autorun.inf Virus from USB Flash Drives

Autorun.inf is not very harmful but still the most annoying virus of all which travels through flash drives. There’s a nifty tool designed specifically for this purpose – to remove Autorun.inf Virus from USB drive!

This virus automatically executes itself as soon as the infected flash drive is inserted into a system. When user double clicks the infected drive, autorun.inf with associated (hidden) .bat files infects all the partition of the system and autorun.inf is copied to all the drives.

Although this can be prevented through standard antivirus software but there’s a dedicated antivirus made specially to remove autorun viruses called Autorun Virus Remover.

Remove Autorun.inf Virus

Remove Autorun.inf Virus

Autorun Virus Remover provides protection against any malicious programs trying to attack via USB drive. When a USB device is inserted into your computer, Autorun Virus Remover will automatically scan it, block and delete autorun virus, trojans, and malicious code. Also, it can detect and remove USB virus such as autorun.inf virus in your computer.

Remove Autorun.inf Virus with Autorun Virus Remover can also remove the autorun virus due to which you can’t open your hard disk and USB drive (Pen drive, Memory card) by double clicking. Autorun Virus Remover USB antivirus software to permanently protect offline computer against any USB virus without the need for signature updates. This light and easy to use solution is compatible with all version of Windows and doesn’t slow down your computer at all.

Download Autorun Virus Remover

Continue Reading

Desktop Tools

Snappy: All in One Driver Installer For All Your System Drivers

snappy-driver-installer

Snappy system driver installer is a freeware for Windows which is an All in One Driver Installer and can be used as a complete solution to install all types of drivers on your system. There are two main sources which are supported by the program namely driver packs and local folders. The program is capable enough to pick the drivers automatically from the folder where you kept them and bring it to use at any given time.

snappy-driver-installer

The computers who have a weak or unreliable internet connection can avail the services of this program as it can install all the drivers without it. To start installing drivers on your computer, go to the updates option which can be found on the top and download the index file by checking on the option ‘Check only needed for this PC’ and then click on accept. This index file will add all the relevant information to the software. The program then works by checking for all the missing drivers and updates for the already-installed programs on the system.

You are also free to download all the driver packs, however, which is not recommended by the experts. You only need to do this if you need to create a completely portable version of a particular program on the computer which, by default, includes all the drivers. There is one thing to note that you will have to download nearly 9 GB of data in that case.

sdi

As soon as you are done downloading, the main interface of the program will show the updated driver information afterward. You can also enable the expert mode present on your left where you will be able to use filters to customize the selected option. You are also free to disable the updates which you think are, in no way, better than the ones already installed.

Before selecting the drivers which need to be updated, hover on each device to get information about each device’s already installed driver and the update the program wants to install. The information may consist of the update’s version, device’s manufacturer’s name, hardware IDs, etc. It is quite beneficial to give some time to these facts as there may be some updates which are not suitable for the device or are falsely identified. Once you are done with all these important steps, the Snappy Driver Installer will start downloading the selected driver updates for your system, installing afterward.

Continue Reading

Desktop Tools

Easiest Way to Recover Deleted Photos and Text Messages From Phone For FREE

Recover deleted photos from phone

Recover deleted photos from phone easily with the world’s number one android file recovery software named Wondershare Dr.Fone. It is a tool which is used worldwide for recovering files and data from android tablets and phones. The tool is capable of retrieving audio files, Whatsapp messages, videos, call history, contacts, photos, text messages and a lot more that you lost accidentally or due to the ROM flashing or OS crash. The tool supports about 200 android devices and many android versions.

Recover deleted photos from phone

 

How To Recover Deleted Photos From Phone And Other Data

Dr. Fone is very beneficial in recovering files on android devices and can retrieve deleted text messages too. However, if the tool is not dealt properly, the software will not be able to recover all the files properly. Before beginning the process of recovery, the following tips should be considered to increase the success rate positively.

  • First of all, if you find out that some of the files have gone missing on the phone or a list of data is deleted accidentally from the phone, stop using the device instantly. In android or other OS, the data is actually not blown away but is kept in the phone to be rewritten by some other files. For this particular reason, if the device is kept working on, that data gets overwritten by the recent changes in the phone and ultimately, disappears forever.
  • Secondly, look for a computer as soon as possible and start the process of recovery. Don’t forget, the sooner it is, the better it is. Download the recovery software by Wondershare i.e. Dr. Fone for android. For further information, follow the following downloading process.

How To Download

There are more than one way to download Wondershare on your phone. You can either go to the product page to find the app link or simply click the download option on the top of the page to get Dr.Fone on your phone. Once downloaded, your phone will offer an installation package. The download button is also featured in the bottom of the page.

How To Install

Once you have downloaded, search for the installation package on your system. Double tap on the .exe file to run the setup and click on the install option to start the recovery process. The installation process will take approximately a few minutes. Once there, the Start Now option should be clicked to launch the software.

Continue Reading

Trending