Keeping Christmas Merry In The Digital Age

Keeping Christmas Merry In The Digital Age

AVG unwraps the 8 best ways to protect your online activities these holidays.

Auckland, 10 December 2012. At this time of year everyone is looking forward to being able to get through Christmas and put their feet up. AVG Technologies provides your wish list of online protection measures to help bring you peace of mind around your online activities these holidays.

The 8 best ways to protect yourself online these holidays are:

1. Inside the wrapping paper
As soon as the wrapping paper comes off your new smartphone, tablet or gaming console, change every default setting to a strong individual password, review all privacy settings, and switch on every security option available on the device.

2. Keep your new toy safe
Before you leave the house for the first time with your new smartphone or tablet, make sure you’ve installed and activated options for Remote Tracking and Remote Wiping. The risk of physical loss or theft of shiny new and coveted gadgets is very high. We all know how easy it is to leave items in a taxi, on a plane or in a cafe – particularly those that our brains have not yet added to the list of things to pick up. Specifically designed security software for smartphones, laptops and tablets can save you considerable time and effort in the recovery of your phone and most importantly, protection from third party use of your data.

3. Don’t get more than you bargained for
If you buy a new mobile device this Christmas, be sure to disable In-App purchases, particularly for devices used by children, so you can’t be automatically charged to your credit card.

While many Apps are initially free, they often want you to buy extra functionality or in-game currency like “Gems” and “Berries” to enjoy them fully. And at regular intervals during the year, there can be fees for In-App upgrades, such as Christmas editions of popular games.

4. Beware of being too friendly
Switch off geo tagging. The precise time, date and location metadata now being automatically captured when you take photos using your smartphone can be easily lifted from Facebook and other social networking pages. At best you’ll only reveal your secret fishing spot, at worst you may be telling the world you're not home or inadvertently reveal you were somewhere you shouldn’t have been.

5. Prepare for unexpected guests
There are also risks to your home systems with the arrival of friends and family over the holidays. If you leave yourself logged in and your desktop open, their “Could I just use your computer to …” or “Do you mind if the kids use your computer to…” could result in the inadvertent downloading of malware. Protect your devices and information by running the latest applications and operating systems, plus always on, automatically updated security software on every networked device; and set up a ‘guest’ login for your home WiFi.

6. Should your ‘friends’ be on your Christmas card list?
As we would once have filtered our address book each year to decide who was still a friend and who should be sent a Christmas card, we should also review our social networking friends list. If you’ve drifted away from someone then ‘unfriend’ them; it’s a silent operation and they aren’t notified, so don’t feel obligated to keep divulging personal information to these people.

7. New Year resolution to be a good digital citizen
Cybercrime affects us all and is so insidious because it doesn’t have witnesses, it only has victims.

By immediately reporting any instance of suspicious online activity or a direct scam to the organisation being used as a cover – be it a bank, retailer or government agency – the faster these disruptive, costly criminal pursuits can be shut down. All the major companies have dedicated security teams to take action often with direct access to Google, Firefox and so on.

The Government’s Scam section of its Consumer Affairs website and Security Central sites are also excellent resources for checking the current status of emerging scams and improving your own awareness of issues.

8. Scammers’ Little Helpers will find you
Just because you’ve joined the Do Not Call Register, don’t lower your guard. You’re not protected from scammers just by signing up as it’s only adhered to by legitimate organisations. People are continuing to fall for the “Microsoft” Technical Support (MTS) scam, often because they believe the Do Not Call Register affords them a measure of safety; all unsolicited calls should be viewed with caution.

There are even reports of people who’ve fallen for the MTS scam now being contacted by criminals purporting to be from an Indian Government Department, claiming they’ve arrested and jailed the original scammers and offering “compensation” to those who provide their credit card details!

Michael McKinnon, Security Advisor at AVG, said: “Every Internet-connected mobile device holds valuable and private information and should be consciously treated as the powerful computers they are. They need to be secured as you would your desktop.”

Have a merry and safe Christmas.

Keep in touch with AVG Technologies AU
• For breaking news, follow AVG on Twitter at twitter.com/avgaunz
• Join our Facebook community at www.facebook.com/avgaunz
• For security trends, analysis, follow the AVG blog at resources.avg.com.au

AVG (has a comprehensive range of security tips on its web site at http://www.avg.com.au/resources/security-tips/. For video tips from AVG, see http://www.youtube.com/user/avgaunz.

### ###

About AVG — www.avg.co.nz

AVG's mission is to simplify, optimise and secure the Internet experience, providing peace of mind to a connected world. AVG's powerful yet easy-to-use software and online services put users in control of their Internet experience. By choosing AVG's software and services, users become part of a trusted global community that benefits from inherent network effects, mutual protection and support. AVG has grown its user base to 143 million active users as of September 30, 2012 and offers a product portfolio that targets the consumer and small business markets and includes Internet security, PC performance optimisation, online backup, mobile security and identity protection software.

Media resources, including logos, box shots, screen shots etc., are available online at: http://www.avg.com.au/media/ and mediacenter.avg.com/

Join the AVG Technologies’ Community for information, video content and pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/officialavg/sets/

ENDS

© Scoop Media