Ways to use the Internet safely

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The invention of the internet has caused great changes in human life. The world's population now exceeds seven billion, of which more than three billion are connected to the Internet. According to 2014 statistics, more than 40% of the population in Uzbekistan also use the Internet, and this number is growing every year. Therefore, there is a need to learn more about the pros and cons of the internet. There are very few sources on this topic, especially in Uzbek. Therefore, we intend to provide you with practical training on the safe use of the Internet through the school "Sahar".

Why do we need the Internet and what are its benefits?

Many people use the internet for entertainment purposes, such as reading the news, listening to music, and using social media. But the convenience and benefits that the internet offers to people are not the only ones.

Consider a simple email service. You can write a letter in seconds and send it anywhere in the world in a second with the click of a button on your computer or phone. Was this possible before the internet? Of course not. This used to require the use of traditional postal or telegraph services. Now there is no need for that. Or try trading online. Now you can sit at home and buy anything you want online and order it delivered to your home. Internet trade in Uzbekistan is also gradually developing. Sites like Asaxiy.uz and Udobno.uz are the first steps in this direction.

The Internet is widely used not only by ordinary users like you and me, but also by private and public companies. Now almost all major companies communicate with their employees and customers through the full internet. It introduces, sells and provides various new services to the public through the Internet. The Internet has also made things easier for governments. Almost all citizens' appeals in many countries are now made electronically. This paperwork reduces inconveniences such as citizens going to the office and meeting officials face to face, waiting in line for a long time. We can say that the launch of the my.gov.uz project for the same purpose in Uzbekistan is positive and gratifying.

What are the disadvantages of the internet?

When this type of mass communication first appeared, there were concerns that many jobs would be lost as a result of the transition of most jobs to electronic form. Because before the Internet, this work was done on paper or in the hands of employees in offices. But the enormous benefits that the internet has brought to the economy, to companies, have allayed those concerns. Now the main concern and threat is how secure it is to share personal and business information on the internet. Concerns have grown to the point that even governments are devoting more attention and resources to preventing Internet threats. The terms cyber aggression and cyber warfare have emerged. In today’s conversation, we will focus on the part of this broad topic that applies to ordinary internet users, that is, ways to ensure the privacy of personal information on the internet.

What is Privacy and Internet Security?

The biggest threat to Internet users is the risk that their personal information will fall into the hands of others or be disclosed.

We enter a lot of our personal information on the internet when we use online services, communicate through social networks or email. These can be personal photos, bank or financial information, health information, our secret correspondence with friends, or email and logins and passwords used to access certain sites. Normally, the secure storage of this information is provided by sites that provide the online service, but there may be cases where your information falls into the hands of an unwanted third party and they may use this information for malicious purposes. can use.

This means that all information that belongs only to us and is not given to others without our consent is our personal property and we have the right to personal inviolability over it.

Disclosure of personal information may occur through no fault of your own or as a result of the actions of a particular attacker or individuals, such as hackers. Disclosure of personal information can cause you material and moral damage.

Here is an example. For example, you posted some personal photo or information in a public place with the belief that you are only sending it to a friend, without understanding the procedure for using the social network. Or you clicked on questionable links posted to certain sites on social media, thinking they weren’t visible to anyone; you unknowingly shared it on your page or carelessly opened a suspicious site so that information about this site appeared on your public page without your consent. Disclosure of such information about your personal life to others can damage your reputation or create a negative image of you in others. This is moral damage. They may also visit various banned sites in your name as a result of such carelessness.

An example of material damage. If you click on a link in a suspicious e-mail and open it, and as a result malicious software is installed on your computer that aims to steal your personal information, it will copy all the personal information on your computer and e-mail and stand behind this program. can send to individuals. The stolen data could include bank and credit card information, and using it, cybercriminals could steal your money.

Who is behind cyber attacks?

Behind internet attacks targeting ordinary people are mainly criminal individuals or groups who aim to gain material wealth. They break into people’s emails, computers or other electronic devices and steal their personal information, thereby finding their bank or credit card information and stealing money from them. They can also extort money by blackmailing people with the threat of stealing personal information, photos and videos and distributing them.

Government agencies are also making extensive use of the internet to find individuals involved in illegal activities. If you use a dubious or controversial site and online resources and do not know how to use them safely, even if you have not committed any crime, you may come to the attention of security agencies and this may cause unwanted inconvenience to you.

Why Internet Security?

It is important to know the guidelines for safe use of the internet to avoid the unpleasant situations mentioned above.

Special protection programs are usually used to prevent virus and malware attacks. But the best way to protect against such threats is to follow internet hygiene. That is, if you know the rules of proper use of the Internet and can distinguish suspicious sources from trusted sites and know what to do when you encounter them, you are less likely to fall victim to cyber attacks.

Ways to use e-mail securely

Email is the most convenient, most needed and used communication tool of all internet users. To use any other service on the Internet, such as social networking, online shopping, you must first have an email address.

Types of email threats

There are several types of threats that come through email:

Spam - Any email that comes to your email and you don’t want to receive can be called “spam”. Typically, groups that collect people’s email addresses in a variety of ways send mass emails to a huge collection of emails. Emails that come in the form of spam can be harmless and the information in them can only be a simple advertisement for a certain product. However, such emails are considered “spam” because you do not want to receive advertisements about the products of this company and they take your email address from somewhere without your consent and send you this information.

For example, you receive a letter from a pharmaceutical company with a list of drugs and their prices. You have no connection to this company or you are not their customer. So, they got your email from somewhere and sent you a letter advertising their products as an advertisement. In fact, there is no harmless information in this letter, but such a letter is also considered “spam” as unwanted information.

In many countries it is forbidden to send such letters even without the consent of the people. But in a borderless world like the internet, it’s good that you don’t expect people to follow such rules.

Keep in mind that “spam” emails may also contain programs that aim to steal personal information.

Ways to protect against spam:

• Never put your personal email address in public places - social networks, sites and public forums.

• When using Internet services, subscribe only to sites that you are sure are safe and necessary for you. That is, do not enter your email address anywhere on the Internet where you are asked to enter your email address. Because there are many fake sites and services that collect emails to send “spam” messages.

• Do not open links to Internet addresses in "spam" emails. They can be used to install data-intensive programs on your computer. Don't even click on the "Unsubscribe" link. They will write such words to deceive you, i.e. in fact you may be accessing the link to the address where the malware is located.

Phishing - This type of threat is one of the biggest threats that comes through email and is aimed at stealing people’s personal information. Phishing emails look like they were sent on behalf of an organization or institution you are familiar with. For example, if you work with a bank or financial institution, they may write you a letter on behalf of that bank, asking for your personal banking information, or visiting their website via a link to provide or receive additional information. If you click on the link in the email, there is no doubt that malware will be installed on your computer. The fact that such letters are written in a professional manner, with logo images and physical addresses of real organizations in them, should not deceive you.

Ways to protect against phishing:

• Never click on links in suspicious emails that appear to be “phishing”.

• Do not respond to such emails and do not send the information they ask for (e.g. bank and credit card information, password, etc.).

• Check the structure of the letter: is it written professionally and without spelling mistakes? Does the content and form match the style of the organization or company with you? Remember, writing without spelling mistakes cannot be a basis for them to be a true and convincing letter.

• If you are not sure how authentic the letter is, before answering it or opening the link in it, contact the organization or company that carried the letter by phone or other means to check if the letter actually came from them.

• Make sure the mailing address to which the email is sent matches the name and domain of the company site you know. For example, www.saharschool.org actual email belonging to the site info@saharschool.org or admin@saharschool.org comes from addresses such as. The first part can be any word, but pay attention to the part that comes after the email icon (@). «Phishing» in letters saharschol.org or saharschool.com such as an e-mail address based on other fake sites that are close to the original address but not exactly the same. The same can be said when checking the authenticity of sites.

• If the link in the letter is hidden under a word, and you want to know where it leads, move the mouse pointer over the word hidden in the link without clicking on the link. The link at the bottom left of the browser will then appear. Depending on the address of the site, you can tell if it is real or not. Remember, do not open the site until you are absolutely sure it is genuine.

Spoofing - Letters from someone you know but don’t actually send that person are called “spoofing”. Hackers or malware may be controlling the email address of an acquaintance and sending you malicious emails on his behalf. Or, conversely, your email address may be compromised by malware, and such emails may be sent to others on your behalf. This can happen not only through email, but also through email or message printing services on social media.

Ways to protect against spoofing:

• If a letter sent by a friend or acquaintance looks suspicious, do not respond to it or open the site address in it.

• Ask your friend to contact you by phone or other means of communication to verify the authenticity of this letter.

• If you notice that a “spoofing” email has been sent or is being sent to other people you are unaware of, immediately change the password of your email and reconnect with the people who left the email to warn you that you did not send the email.

Email security bo'according to'additional recommendations

• Set a strong password for your email address. Do not use simple words or numbers for the password. According to SplashData, the most commonly used passwords last year were 12345, 12345678 and qwerty. You do not have to be a hacker to break or obtain such passwords. Whenever possible, use a combination of capital letters, numbers, and special characters in your password. For example, a password consisting of the simple word "goodness" and the letters "Goodness1!" You can convert a complex password consisting of various characters in the form.

• Do not use your email password on other sites or online services. We recommend that you choose a separate password for each site.

• To remember, do not store passwords on your computer or other online and electronic devices. Write them down on paper and keep them in a place where no one knows.

• When using public computers, always remember to log out of the site or email after use. To do this, you need to press the "Exit", "Log out" or "Exit" buttons. If you close a window (browser) without leaving the system, all the data in it will be saved, and when someone reopens the page, your data will come out. Public computers are computers in libraries, Internet cafes, or owned by someone else.

• If you want to send a single letter to multiple people, keep in mind that email addresses can be seen by everyone. If you do not want the recipient to see other emails to which this letter was sent, enter the mailing addresses in the "Bcc" (in English postal services such as Gmail and Yahoo) or "Hidden copy" (in Russian postal services such as Mail.ru). Then multiple people who receive a single email will not see each other’s email addresses. This is important because the parties to the letter may not want the email address to be visible to other people they do not know.aa

Internet from the browser safe use

In this section, we talk about internet browsers. A browser is a program used to access the Internet and view web pages. Among the most popular browsers are Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, Safari. While all of these browsers perform the same function, they differ from each other in terms of internet connection mode, additional services, and appearance. Here are some safety considerations when working with Internet browsers.

Each browser stores the history of what you did there, the pages you visited, and the keywords you searched for. Every page you open will be known to your ISP and browser provider, and they can be permanently stored on servers. This means that your visits to the sites will never be private and confidential. So you need to act responsibly about what sites you visit.

When someone else accesses your computer, you can use a separate browser window called "Private" if you don't want your browser history to be visible to them, or if you use the Internet on public computers. It is now possible to open such hidden windows in all popular browsers. All sites, passwords and login information opened in the Private window will be deleted after the window is closed. Remember, a hidden window cannot hide your information from your ISP or browser provider. It only guarantees that your data will not be stored in the browser.

As we mentioned in the section on secure access to email, browsers also pose threats such as viruses, phishing and malicious sites that steal your personal information. Follow these tips to protect against them.

• First and foremost, take a simple common sense approach when determining whether a site is safe or unsafe. Suspicious sites usually contain false information or statements that are very unlikely to be true (e.g., a message that you have won the lottery). If you accidentally visit such sites, you should close the site immediately without clicking any link in it.

• If a website is claimed to belong to an organization or company, check to see if its name is spelled correctly, spelled differently, or spelled incorrectly. On fake sites that steal the name of some real organization and are created in their name, some of the letters in the name of the real company site are usually altered. For example, saharschool.org if the site is real, its a fake view www.saharschol.org or www.saharschool.com can be in the form of.

• If a site starts with an http: // sign, the chances of the site being suspicious are even higher. Almost all of the trusted and large sites now open with the https: // protocol. The https icon indicates that the site has a security certificate.

• When you type a specific address of a site into a browser to access a site, make sure you type the address correctly before pressing the ENTER key. If you misspell a word, you may end up on another site that looks like a real site but is fake.

• Sites that require you to send money through money transfer services are usually fake. For example, be wary of a site that promises to find you a job abroad and asks you to send money from Moneygram for the service fee.

• Update your browser regularly. If a newer version comes out, save it and install this new one.

Safe use of computer devices

Malicious software that enters the Internet through a browser usually installs on your computer or other electronic device, trying to search for personal information in its memory and send it to criminal owners. We also give some tips on how to protect your devices to prevent this.

Ways to protect computers and laptops:

• Keep the Firewall protection software on your computer or laptop on at all times. It is the most effective weapon in repelling attacks from the internet and other networks. Typically, Windows and Mac operating systems come pre-installed with Firewall.

• Install antivirus software on your computer / laptop. Operating systems on Windows 7 and higher will have antivirus software (Windows Defender) installed, and they will usually be enough to repel almost all Internet threats (of course, when you use the Internet responsibly). Computers running the Mac operating system are also known to be resistant to Internet threats, and they usually do not need to install additional antivirus software either. We recommend some free antivirus software for users of other, older versions of Windows:

1. Avast! Free Antivirus: https://www.avast.com/

2. Avg Antivirus: http://www.avg.com/affiliate/ww-en/free-antivirus-download

• Update your system by downloading updates from the operating system in a timely manner to provide important protection against new threats from the Internet.

• Never download or install suspicious items or software on your computer / laptop. They can be malware or viruses that steal data or corrupt your computer. Even if antivirus software is installed, some viruses can be passed on.

• Get in the habit of turning off your computer or laptop when not in use.

• Be careful when connecting someone’s disk or USB-drive memory flash drive to your computer / laptop. They may be infected with the virus.

• If more than one person uses the same computer, create a separate profile for each user.

• Always back up your computer data. You can copy them to separate memory disks or to online storage sites. You can get up to 15-20 Gigabytes of free space on sites that provide data storage services such as Google Drive and Dropbox.

Mobile device protection yo'are:

The new generation is increasingly accustomed to accessing the Internet, mainly through mobile devices. All activities that can be done through computers, such as shopping, access to banking services, access to social networks, can now be done via a phone or tablet using special software. As Sunday, there is a growing need to protect them as well. Here are some tips on how to protect your mobile devices.

• Get in the habit of always locking the screen of your phone or tablet with a password. Make sure your password is complex. When not in use, let the device screen lock automatically.

• Do not give your phone to others.

• Copy the information to a computer or online storage site. For example, on Apple mobile devices, you can transfer your data to online servers via the iCloud service and encrypt them using special codes. Android phone owners can use Google Drive or other data storage services.

• Do not store sms or e-mails with sensitive and personal information on your phone. Delete them. You can also block those who send such messages.

• Do not download suspicious applications. Do not visit suspicious sites.

• With the help of a special program, you can recover deleted data from your phone, such as pictures, letters, phone numbers, using a special program.

• Use only your phone number when signing up for apps like Telegram, Whatsapp or social networks like Facebook, Odnoklassniki. Because if you use someone else’s number, they can get your password through that number, or they can unknowingly access your profile on that app and network and track your activities.

No phone'What to do next?

If your phone or other mobile device is lost, your device must first be prepared for the actions that need to be taken in such cases. That is, you need to prepare in advance for the work that needs to be done when it disappears. Here are some tips for Apple and Android phones:

Apple:

• "Find my phone" (Find my iPhone) start the service. With this service, you can find the location of a lost phone online. It also automatically locks the screen and your phone on the screen so that the person who finds it can contact you. you can make your number or email address visible. You can also completely erase all the data inside your phone via the internet.

• Save all your data via the iCloud service. If your phone is lost and not found, you can copy all the data inside it to another phone via iCloud.

Android:

• Google's "Android Device Manager»You can find your lost phone, lock it, or delete the data on it by using the service or other lost phone tracking software.

• Remember to save the data on your Android device to another location from time to time as well. You can copy it to your computer or to online information storage sites using utilities. You can also save all the information related to your profile opened in Google through the Android Settings panel.

Social network security

Social networks have become a staple of the internet for many today. That is, many users today access the Internet, mainly to spend time on social networks: they receive both news and video and other entertainment information from these networks; talking to friends, having conversations, and so on.

Examples of social networks include Facebook, Twitter, Odnoklassniki, Vkontakte and Dialogue. The biggest threat to the privacy of Internet users may now come from these networks. Because you may have entered most of your personal information, photos, and even your credit card and bank information on these sites. This means that social media should be used with caution so that this information does not give a reason. Here are some tips for you:

• Post as little of your personal information on social media as possible. Keep in mind that no matter how much social media tightens security measures, the information you post there will never be completely secure. In the worst case, the site will be attacked by hackers, and your secret photos and secret correspondence will one day be revealed to the whole world.

• Remember that this is a public area. If you leave a picture or a message there, it will now be sealed to the internet servers and even if you delete that information from your page, it may not be erased from the server’s memory. So cut one of the seven scales before writing any sentence.

• Please read the terms of use of the network before registering on the site. For a long time, many people did not read these rules, but such sites usually impose full responsibility on the user in many matters in order to absolve them of responsibility. For example, it may be a condition that every image posted to the network becomes the property of the site. If you do not agree to such terms, do not subscribe to the site.

• Explore available security options from the site's Settings. You can choose the situation that suits you from this panel on issues such as who your post or page is visible to, who can write you a letter.

• Do not open suspicious links. They can be malware that seeks to access your network profile. This can lead to unsolicited emails and links to your friends on your behalf.

• Even the secret chats you do with your friends are actually free of surveillance. The site administration or government agencies may disclose this information if they wish.

Conclusion

The benefits and opportunities of the Internet for humanity are increasing day by day. However, security concerns have not diminished.

Even if you have all the necessary autiviris and other information security software, your online activities will never be 100 percent secure. You can minimize the level of risk to you by choosing a strong password or not accessing malicious sites, but if hackers intend to attack you personally, they are less likely to survive the threat. Of course, it is almost impossible for ordinary people to be attacked by a deliberate hacker. Therefore, in conclusion, we present you our latest recommendations on safe use of the Internet.

• Whenever possible, enter your personal information as little as possible on websites and networks.

• Do not communicate with strangers and never open site addresses and attached files in emails from them. Recently, even in Uzbek, there have been spam and malicious emails.

• Do not assume that your personal letters and chat conversations are known to anyone but you and the person you are communicating with. Every word you write will be saved somewhere like a bullet fired, or someone may be watching in secret.

• Use the Internet responsibly. If you can't stand behind your word, that is, if you can see that you can answer in public without being ashamed or afraid of what you say or do on the Internet, then do it on the Internet. ling. For example, you may encounter situations like this when you are arguing with others on social media, criticizing someone or something.

• Do not engage in illegal activities on the Internet. What are the types of illegal activities? For example, watching pornography, reading or distributing material that promotes violence, religious extremism, can lead to criminal consequences. So, be a law-abiding citizen on the internet as well.

Source: www.Texnoman.Uz