Three Keys to Staying Safer Online

Though there are several skills you can acquire to stay safe depending on your activities, there are three main aspects to Internet safety that every user must understand and incorporate into online behavior to be protected online.

Understand the potential safety risks online in both a broad and factual manner

By broad I mean that the risks aren’t just the oft-publicized trio of ID theft, cyberbullying, and sexual predation. Online risks cover a full gamut of crimes that may leverage the Internet. In addition, online risks include a wide spectrum of concerns around privacy and ethics that may have nothing to do with breaking laws.

A factual understanding of online risk is also necessary to react appropriately. The current angst over sexual predators trawling the Web, for example, is causing many parents to over react about the defenses they need to have in place. Are there horrific cases of sexual predation involving the Internet? Yes, however, fortunately, the actual number of cases is low.

Focusing on Internet sexual predators is like focusing on the threat of an eruption from a mountain that has been dormant for 200 years, instead of focusing on the risk of a robbery in a crime-ridden area that lies in the path of the mountain. An earthquake or eruption would be immeasurably more damaging, but it is far less likely to occur. Children should be educated in how to respond in the event of an earthquake, but much more time and emphasis should be put on installing secure locks and other measures to prevent the likeliest risks to their safety.

The good news is that all of the risks are manageable if not outright preventable. Read more about what drives online risk in Understanding Internet Risks 101

Know how to apply Internet safety

There is a real gap between theory and practice in every skill. Simply reading a driver’s manual or watching others drive may help, but it does not adequately prepare you to operate a motor vehicle. Beyond awareness and understanding there must be the acquisition of solid skills through practice. For example, it is not enough to know that information exposure can put you at risk, or that you need strong passwords. You have to learn and practice the skills of identifying how and where information is exposed, how to create powerful passwords, and so on.

There are about 10 skills everyone should practice to master Internet safety, and none are hard to learn, nor do they require a degree in computer science. Once learned, they stick with you – much like riding a bicycle -- and automatically kick in when needed. Check out our skill building tools.

Diligence online

Even if you have practiced and acquired safety skills, carelessness leads to mistakes. When you’re in a hurry, or distracted, you trip up – you cut yourself with a sharp knife in spite of knowing how to use a knife properly, you narrowly miss another car in a preoccupied moment, and so on.

Carelessness online has similarly risky results. You have probably experienced that sinking feeling after pressing the send button for an e-mail that you really didn’t want to go out. Maybe you’ve had that feeling the minute after you responded to a spam message, entered your credit card number to make a purchase on a shady Web site, or given your e-mail alias to a person you really don’t want to have it.

Another threat to diligence is recklessness. This is particularly so for teens and for those who consider themselves technically savvy. Both groups believe nothing will happen to them, though they have rather different reasons for their assumptions. Teens feel invincible, and therefore take risks you and I would not. Tech-savvy individuals think they know how to defend against online attacks. To the extent that the threats are technical, such as viruses attacking their computers, this is likely to be true. But using and updating antivirus software does not help with socially engineered crimes, encroachments on privacy, and ethical violations. These cases have little if anything to do with technology, but more with understanding human behavior – particularly the negative aspects of human behavior.

For those deliberately acting without regard for their own safety (and the safety of others) there is little that will help them avoid some hard knocks – offline and online. Fortunately, most people have a healthy level of self-preservation. For these people the best that can be done is to present the risks in a factual way that helps them see their own self-interest. If they see that some of their online actions may be detrimental to themselves or those they care about, they are far more likely to moderate their behavior than if they are told to follow a set of rules they think don’t apply to them.

For the rest of us, gaining a clear understanding of potential risks, learning a few core Internet safety skills that automatically kick in when needed, and trying to stay focused and alert while online will go a long way to creating the really fantastic online experience that enhances our relationships, improves our knowledge, provides entertainment, and helps us work.

Linda