A Senior’s Guide to Online Safety
How Senior Citizens are a Vulnerable Group
Staying connected online has become the need of the hour for not only juniors and millennials, but also for seniors. However, due to the lack of proper knowledge and understanding of online safety, senior citizens can be a vulnerable target for scammers and hackers.
To ensure online safety, seniors are required to follow some safety steps before stepping into the online world. Thus, this article provides a thorough guide to senior citizens to take useful precautions to make sure they are safe and secure from imminent online dangers.
The Basics of Online Safety
Seniors can reap many benefits on the internet if they know the basics on preserving =their online safety. Here are some online safety practices that can be beneficial for seniors to safeguard themselves online:
1. Avoid Sharing Sensitive Information
Sensitive information comprises your personal data, such as your passwords, account details, credit card numbers, telephone numbers, and so on. It’s common for web scammers to use your private information in a deceitful manner.
So, be vigilant and always provide sensitive data to only trusted and authentic websites to ensure your safety.
2. Never Trust Strangers
Scammers are always on the lookout for easy traps and novice users are often their top picks. So, never trust strangers online as this can be very risky.
It’s okay to make new friends but placing complete trust on strangers is like allowing them to take advantage of yourself. Thus, make friends with only people you trust and do not trust strangers only.
3. Understand Your Privacy
The websites you use have control over your personal information. Hence, it’s crucial for seniors to understand how to keep their data intact and secure. Privacy settings allow you to manage how your data, such as photos, videos, posts, contact, etc., is seen by the public on the internet.
Besides, this helps strengthen your public profile so that your information is only shared with a trusted and designated group of people.
4. Use Unique Passwords
Seniors are often unable to remember long passwords, so they opt for simpler keywords like their names and numbers. This can pose a heavy security threat as such passwords can be easily hacked.
Therefore, make sure to set unique passwords that comprise alphanumeric keywords or use fingerprint or multi-factor authentication, like security questions, to ensure your safety.
5. Use Trusted Devices
Using public devices or your friends’ phones for internet surfing can be detrimental to your online safety. Using unauthenticated devices for logging into your personal accounts may protect your private information, such as emails and passwords and reduce the chances for identity theft.
So, always use your personal phones and computers whenever you want to access your private accounts.
6. Keep Your Pop-ups Blocked
It’s easy for hackers to tempt new internet users, specifically seniors, to be redirected to unknown websites so they can steal their private information. So, make sure you have your ad-block extensions installed and pop-up blockers activated to further strengthen your online safety.
Unwanted pop-ups may also bring malware infection and viruses to your device that are harmful to your web security.
7. Watch Out for Email Scams
Email scams are a common way to steal information. Hackers send you deceiving emails asking for support and monetary help. They may also lure you with prizes or money to get you to trust them, but you need to stay watchful for such email campaigns.
Avoid subscribing to untrustworthy email campaigns and newsletters, and never click on such links. In case of receiving deceptive offers, mark them spam or add them to the blacklist.
8. Request for Identity Validation
Identity validation is a good way for senior citizens to keep their accounts safe. Perhaps, they may not be able to remember their credentials, so validating identity serves as an added layer of security from privacy invasions.
Moreover, you can also ask for this service from your bank to double check your identity whenever a login is requested.
9. Avoid Sharing Personal Issues
Social media has become a general platform where people share whatever they feel like to. It’s not bad to share informative and general content. However, avoid sharing your personal information with strangers online.
You might be tempted to trust your online friendship to this extent where you’d want to discuss your personal matters with strangers, but you have to be mindful of the fact that someone might use you and provoke you to take inappropriate actions. Therefore, only share your feelings with the people you trust and avoid talking to strangers online.
10. Report Abuse
Cyberbullying is yet another way to harass internet users, including adults and seniors. If you ever receive threatening messages and emails from anyone, report them immediately and inform your loved ones that you’re being cyberbullied.
In general, every social media platform has implemented online safety measures offers to help you deal with misleading and abusing content on the internet. So, don’t ignore and report the issue if you find any content that you feel abusive.
Your online safety is your responsibility
The internet is a great place to learn and gain abundant knowledge, but it’s also a place where you meet different people with different opinions. This makes it a vulnerable platform for seniors as well as people of all age groups.
Therefore, your online safety is your responsibility, which is only possible if you act prudently and follow the rules defined above. Thus, the more you understand your online safety, the better you act upon it.
