June 12, 2023
June is National Internet Safety Month, which is an annual campaign to raise awareness about the importance of internet safety and to make available resources and solutions to keep yourself and your family safer and more secure online.
We at Cape Cod 5 are committed to helping our customers, community members and employees protect themselves from cyber threats. See below for tips to protect yourself online.
Tips for Browsing Safety
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Pop-up scams – Many pop-ups appear to be from Tech Support and include an urgent message that your computer has a virus and that your immediate attention is required. As a rule of thumb, do not click any links within a pop-up window. “X” out of the window if you can and if not, unplug and clean your computer. Be sure to keep your antivirus software up to date to protect against pop-ups.
- Do not click links in online advertisements or on social media - These are often tempting as they can be tailored towards your interests and based on your browsing history; however, they may include malware. Be sure to update your social media and online account passwords and pause to verify a new friend or follower request before accepting
- Limit your use of public wireless networks – Do not use a public wireless network to do your online banking or shopping. When logging in to your bank accounts, make sure you connect from a secure location and network. Set up bank account alerts to monitor for any fraudulent activity. Click here to learn more about the alerts offered to Cape Cod 5 customers. When you are shopping online, check out as a guest so that you can prevent your credit card and other personal information from spreading around the web.
- Beware of parked pages and opt for encrypted pages only –
Parked pages are URLs with small typos (such as wwww.capecodfive.com) that are created by scammers to look very similar to the URL for a legitimate business. Mistyping a web address will take you to these parked pages and present clickable content that may contain malware. You should also stick to sites that use encryption to protect your information as it travels from your computer to their system. To determine if a website is encrypted, look for https at the beginning of the web address (the “s” means it is secure). Look for “https” on every page of the site you’re on, not just where you sign in.
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Keep your operating system and browser software up to date – In order to minimize your exposure to known vulnerabilities, keep your software patches up to date for your operating system (I.e., Windows, Linux, Apple) as well as for your browser. You can check your browser settings to make sure you are set up for automatic updates.
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Research companies before shopping with them online - If you see an ad or an offer that looks good, don’t immediately click on it! Take a moment to research the company behind it. Type the company or product name into your favorite search engine with terms like “review,” “complaint,” or “scam.” If you find bad reviews, you can better decide if the offer is worth the risk. If you can’t find contact information for the company, take your business elsewhere.
