Costa del ‘online’ crime?
After having our fingers burned last year, thousands of Brits are avoiding a ‘staycation’ and will be heading to warmer shores this summer. However, the holiday bug might not be the only bug we’re hit with if we’re not careful.
Even with the seasonal increase in travel, it’s likely we’ll still be updating our social networking profiles, sending Tweets and using our email accounts while on holiday– whether it’s through the WiFi at a hotel or airport or using a computer at an Internet café. As global travellers get ready for departure, PC Tools is asking Brits to make sure they’re being even more vigilant online and have put together some easy to follow tips for a summer holiday free of online crime.
Cybercrime is now worth almost £1 trillion pounds globally and an online identity is stolen every 3 seconds – putting millions of us at risk of financial fraud. Unbelievably, still only a third of us regularly update our internet security software – and half of all Brits even admit to ignoring security warnings when they pop up on their machines.
Fortunately, there are some really simple things we can do to make sure that we’re the only ones spending our holiday savings and they’re not susceptible to online criminals.
PC Tools Summer Travel Tips
1. Safeguard your finances – Cybercriminals can snatch your banking information over Wi-Fi or unreliable third party online networks, so don’t log onto your finance accounts or enter banking information online over unsecured networks.
2. Change your password often – Since cybercriminals might get access to your passwords if you are using WiFi or a third-party computer, PC Tools recommends you change them often, and use our online password generator to make sure it’s not easy to crack.
3. Avoid file-share websites – Be careful uploading your holiday pictures and videos on file sharing websites as they can leave you vulnerable to viruses and malware. Fortunately PC Tools has products with behavioural protection to stop threats that have never been seen before. Check out pctools.com/spyware-doctor-antivirus and pctools.com/internet-security
4. Don’t click and run - If you download a map or ticket, save it on your computer and scan it before opening. Never click on the “run” program option. PC Tools Internet Security and Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus can scan your computer to make sure any file you download is safe.
5. Stay in safe places - If you’re traveling to a foreign country, be careful about international domains, for example those for Russia (.ru) which are frequently used by cybercriminals who want to avoid prosecution in the USA and UK.