Do Your Research Before Doing Anything Online
Key Points:
- Sage advice from silly catchphrases that keeps you safe.
- This old expression helps you avoid taking risky chances.
- Eye-opening research reveals what websites collect from you.
- If this happens to you, report it to your local United States Secret Service.
- Deep diving for these two things prevents information and data loss.
Look both ways before you cross the road. Don’t play with knives. Never talk with food in your mouth. Silly parental catchphrases or savvy insight that has kept you safe, unharmed, and not looking foolish throughout your life?
Those same results will apply when you research before doing anything online. With your daily life on the internet, becoming a victim of fraud, scam, or cybercrime can happen to anyone. In today’s video, Duleep Pillai has some sage advice about researching first.
Research Protects You In Advance
An old carpenter expression states, “Measure Twice, Cut Once.” It means you should double-check what you’re going to do first before doing it or take your chances because you chose to disregard the sound advice given.
When it comes to your activity on the Internet, researching before doing anything online may seem like an unnecessary and tedious task. However, if you did take that extra step, what might you uncover that would prevent you from any financial loss after visiting a website?
Furthermore, if you discover others have had their identity or personal information stolen from that online site. Wouldn’t you want to know how that happened in advance so you don’t make the same mistake? Of course!
What Can Research Uncover?
There are many subjects and topics you can research online. Some of it is fun, some of it is useless, and some of it is eye-opening. Take, for example, websites that are not secure. A little research reveals that a specific site’s URL begins with “HTTPS,” not an “HTTP.”
Why is that vital for you to know before using that website? An HTTPS URL lets the visitor know instantly and visually that this site is encrypted and verified. Meaning it is more secure than a website whose domain begins with HTTP.
But the most important research you’ll want to do first is uncovering a website’s Internet privacy policies. That documentation will reveal what that website will unsuspectedly collect from you. What you discover will determine if that site is safe for browsing and buying items online.
Picking Up The Pieces
Those who choose not to do their research before doing anything online may find themselves victims of fraud or, worse, a cyberattack. If this happens to you, you must notify federal, state, and local agencies.
Next, you’ll need to contact your bank and credit card companies to see if there’s been any unauthorized purchases or activity on your accounts. Suppose there has been. In most cases, a hold gets placed on your account as part of their investigation into identity theft.
- For Social Security theft, report that to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG).
- For any Internet crimes, report that to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
- Report any identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission.
Finally, if you suspect you’ve been a victim of an online crime or fraud. Please report it to your local United States Secret Service (USSS) Electronic Crimes Task Force.
Research Helps Prevent Information and Data Loss
Without proactive research processes, your business or organization could quickly become another target for cybercriminals. It is that deep dive searching for the vulnerabilities and weaknesses in your IT infrastructure that prevents information and data loss.
Veltec Networks has the experience, expertise, and knowledge that secures your data. Our research processes allow us to create security policies that protect your organization. Contact us today or call Toll Free at (855) 5-VELTEC to learn more about how we can help.
