The web is an inherently unsecure place. Fortunately, with a few tips and tricks, you can safely navigate your way through the digital wild west. Read on to learn how to digitally secure your Mac and enhance your safe web browsing habits.
Phishing scams are the latest way that scammers tru to get to your information. This usually happens when you get an email from a "phishy" source about an account that you have online. While you may think that this email is from your bank, PayPal, or some other reputable service, it may actually be from someone trying to fool you for your information.
With Phishing scams, there's really only one thing to keep in mind: If a link is provided in an important email, then you need to make sure it's a valid. Before you click on a link, hover over it see the URL. If the URL is anything other than the site you thought it was, then don't click it.
Despite what you may think to be true about Mac security, there is still Mac malware floating around, just waiting for some unsuspecting Mac user to download and install it.
Most of these crafty malware authors disguise the bad code in applications that look like the real thing. This is one reason why you should avoid pirating apps, or download apps from unknown websites.
Another way to protect yourself against malware is by unchecking the "Open 'safe' files after downloading" checkbox in Safari's preferences. If you don't use Safari, then you should check to see if your browser has this feature as well, and disable it. By unchecking this, your web browser will no longer open files as soon as they are downloaded.
Malicious websites can take all forms. However, the majority of these fake websites look identical to the real ones. You can protect yourself by taking a few precautions.
First, make sure that in Safari > Preferences > Security, the "Warn when visiting a fraudulent website" checkbox is checked. This will cause Safari to let you know when you are about to visit a website that has been reported as fraudulent, or a website that distributes malware.
Secondly, you can manually check to make sure that a website isn't malicious by visiting MacAfee SiteAdvisor's website.
Under the "View a Site Report" heading, type in the name of the URL of the website that you wish to check. When done, click "View Report Now."
After searching through the database, SiteAdvisor will let you know if there is anything malicious on the site you're viewing.
When you are browsing to a secure website, such as your online bank, you will want to make sure that the connection is secured. There are two ways to verify that the site you are browsing is on a secure connection.
The first way to verify this is by checking to make sure that there is a small lock in the upper right-hand corner of the screen (if you're using Safari). You will also see a green bar in the address bar. Clicking this will show the website's digital certificate. Ensure that the certificate has a valid date and that it's not expired.
When browsing over a secure connection, you should also notice that the URL field of the address bar will change from "http://" to "https://". This shows that you are using the secure version of the hypertext transfer protocol and that the connection between your browser and the server you're connected to is being encrypted.
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