Naivety — the wrong way to behave on the Internet

Want to slew a cybercriminal? Stay calm, be smart and check twice. Here is a list of security rules for every smart person who cares about cybersecurity.

You already know that your game accounts can attract cybercriminals as surely as e.g. banking credentials of your parents. Of course, Internet is not a safe place but basically it’s dangerous for those who don’t care about security. The best weapon against cybercriminals is your brain.

Be smart and vigilant. For example, if you think that memorizing long reliable passwords is a boring thing, make it funny. Really, it’s very easy to find a way to learn by heart complicated passwords with pleasure. Of course, you can also use a password manager.

As you are here you must be a responsible person who cares about Internet security. Thus, be sure to check these simple rules, which we’ve collected to help you slew a cybercriminal:

1. Don’t tell anyone your passwords for social networks (e.g., Facebook) or online games – not even your best friend. If someone finds out your password they can steal your game items or make it look like you are sending bad things to your friends on social networks. Your friends wouldn’t be happy about that!

2. Never send your password in an email or IM (e.g, Whatsapp, Skype, Viber, etc.), even if you think somebody working for a social network or online game is asking for it. Don’t forget – someone who really works for a web service will never ask for your password.

3. Try to use a long, complicated password. That means at least 8 symbols including upper and lower-case letters, numbers, punctuation marks. Your pet’s name, your brother’s birthday or a simple list like ‘12345’ won’t do. They are too simple to guess, and they can be easily cracked using special programs.

4. Don’t write your passwords on a piece of paper, or save them in a file on your device – that’s exactly where a criminal will start looking for them. It’s better to memorize them.

5. Before you type in your password, make sure you really are on the site you want to visit. Look again at the address bar, make sure everything looks the same as usual. Criminals often make fake versions of popular sites so they can steal passwords.

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