Internet Safety: 6 Do's and Don'ts That Actually Matter

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2. Updates: Install Them Promptly

Do keep your operating system, browser, and apps current, and enable automatic updates so the decision is made for you. Most updates quietly patch security holes that attackers are already probing for. The window between a flaw becoming public and attackers mass-exploiting it is often measured in days.

Don't dismiss that update prompt for weeks because it's inconvenient. The majority of real-world attacks don't use exotic, undiscovered flaws, they exploit holes that were already fixed, targeting people who simply hadn't installed the patch yet. "Remind me tomorrow," repeated for a month, is how most breaches actually happen. Set updates to install overnight and stop thinking about it.

3. Personal Information: Share Less

Do be deliberate about what you post on social media and public forums. Every detail, your hometown, employer, pet's name, kids' names, the year you graduated, is a potential answer to a security question or a building block for a targeted scam. Attackers assemble these scraps into convincing impersonations.

Don't hand out your home address, phone number, travel plans, or financial details unless there's a clear, verified reason. Posting "finally on vacation for two weeks!" tells more than your friends. Oversharing fuels identity theft and social engineering, the art of manipulating a person rather than cracking a system, and it's far more effective than most people assume.

4. Privacy Settings: Don't Trust the Defaults

Do open the privacy settings on your accounts and tighten who can see your posts, profile, photos, and contact info. Do it once right after signing up, and recheck after major app updates, which sometimes quietly reset or add new sharing options.

Don't assume the out-of-the-box settings protect you. Platforms usually default to the most open configuration because broad visibility and data sharing benefit the company, not you. The default is built for their growth, not your privacy. Reviewing and locking those settings down takes a few minutes and meaningfully shrinks your exposure.

5. Online Shopping: Stick to Secure Sites

Do buy from reputable retailers and confirm the connection is encrypted, look for https and a padlock icon in the address bar before entering any payment details. The padlock isn't a guarantee the site is honest, but its absence is a guarantee you shouldn't enter a card.

Don't type card numbers into a site that's missing that encryption, or chase a deal that looks too good to be true on an unfamiliar storefront, scam shops thrive on urgency and impossible discounts. A virtual card number or a service like PayPal adds a useful buffer between scammers and your real card. If something does go wrong, a credit card's fraud protection is also far stronger than a debit card's, which pulls money directly from your account.

6. Phishing: Verify Before You Click

Do learn what phishing looks like: urgent or threatening language ("your account will be closed in 24 hours"), a sender address that's slightly off, generic greetings, and links whose real destination doesn't match the company. Hover over a link to see where it actually points before clicking. When in doubt, ignore the message and go to the company's website directly by typing the address yourself.

Don't click links or open attachments from senders you don't recognize, and be just as wary of messages that appear to come from people you do know, since attackers spoof familiar names. Phishing is still the number-one way attackers get an initial foothold, because it targets the human, not the software, and no amount of antivirus protects against a password you typed in willingly.

Teaching Kids and Older Relatives the Same Rules

Internet safety isn't only a personal project, it's a household one, and the people most often targeted are at the two ends of the age range. Children may not recognize that a friendly stranger in a game chat could be fishing for personal details, and older relatives are disproportionately hit by phishing calls and scam emails because the tactics are designed to exploit trust and urgency. Walk them through the same core rules in plain language: don't share where you live, don't click links in unexpected messages, and when in doubt, ask before acting. A five-minute conversation does more good than any software filter, because the weakest link in any home network is whoever is most likely to be tricked. Keeping everyone on the same page protects the whole household, not just the person who read this article.

Two Extra Habits Worth Building

The six rules above cover the essentials, but two more habits compound their value. First, back up your important data regularly, ideally to both a cloud service and an external drive that isn't always connected. Backups are your safety net against ransomware, theft, and simple hardware failure; if an attack does get through, a recent backup turns a catastrophe into an inconvenience. Second, be cautious on public Wi-Fi. Open networks at cafes, airports, and hotels let others on the same network potentially intercept unencrypted traffic. Avoid logging into banking or other sensitive accounts on them, and if you must, use a reputable VPN to encrypt your connection.

Neither of these is glamorous, but both quietly absorb the failures the first six rules don't catch. Together, the whole set forms a layered defense, no single habit has to be perfect, because the others cover its gaps.

The Six at a Glance

Where to Start

You don't have to do all six today, and trying to overhaul everything at once is how people give up. Start with passwords and updates, they prevent the largest share of real attacks, then work through privacy settings and phishing awareness over the following week. If you share a device with family, walk them through the same steps; security is only as strong as the least-careful person on the network. Internet safety isn't about fear. It's a handful of small, mostly one-time habits that, stacked together, make you a far harder target than the next person, which is usually all it takes for an opportunistic attacker to move on.