The computers available at libraries, college campuses and other public locations are convenient resources for low-risk activities like browsing the web or collaborating on documents. They’re less great for conducting activities like online banking or shopping, since you can’t be sure they’re 100 percent secure. Stick to your own devices and networks for these transactions.

If you’re in an airport or cafe, you might be tempted to plug your device into an open USB port to charge it. This can be risky, since you don’t know if the port is compromised. Charge via a wall outlet or bring your own battery pack instead.

Outdated internet router firmware is a major security risk. Unfortunately, many people aren’t aware of this issue because they don’t do much with their routers unless they have issues with their internet connections. Take a look at your router to find its IP address, which you can enter into your web browser. From there, you […]

Most operating systems give you the option of creating a different user account for each user. If you’re worried that your child may accidentally access, modify, and/or delete your files, you can give them a separate account and decrease the amount of access and number of privileges they have. If you don’t have separate accounts, […]

A virtual private network is a great way to protect your online activity by encrypting your connection. However, in many instances you get what you pay for. Free VPNs might still log your actions and keep those records or sell them to third-parties; the Facebook-owned Onavo VPN, recently removed from the iOS App Store, showed […]

Hyperlinks are tricky. When they’re included in text, you can’t immediately see where they lead, meaning a simple click could take you somewhere you don’t want to go, like an adware-infested page. Consider hovering over them with a mouse, or copying them with a press and hold contextual menu on a touchscreen and pasting them […]