Cybercrime refers to illegal activities carried out online; it includes fraud, spam, identity theft, viruses, computer worms, cyberbullying, drug trafficking, sexual predators, malware or spyware, phishing, etc. You can read more in our post “What is cybercrime?”

Most people are victims of these at one time or another, but there are ways to avoid or deal with cybercrime by protecting themselves properly.

In this post we will see 8 steps to prevent cybercrime:

Step 1

Enable your anti-spam. Most Internet providers offer the spam blocking feature to prevent unwanted messages, such as fraudulent emails and phishing emails from reaching your inbox.

Step 2

Make sure you have the right and properly updated anti-virus software for your computer such as McAfee, Norton Anti-Virus, STOPzilla or other similar programs.

Be sure to do a scan once a week to locate and eliminate any malware, spyware, viruses and other problems. If you don't want to buy security software, then there are programs like AVG that offers free versions.

Step 3

Use the firewall protection feature of your computer, which is a digitally created barrier that prevents hacker’s entrance to your computer system. It is better to keep it always enabled.

Step 4

Encrypt the important data that you don't want to compromise. Use encryption software, which "distorts" your data, this makes it unintelligible to anyone trying to enter your computer system.

Step 5

Be careful when providing personal information through a website you know nothing about, especially those that ask for your name, address, bank account number or social security number.

Step 6

Make sure you make your purchases online on a secure website like the ones that start with the URL "https" and / or have the TRUSTe or VeriSign seal. If you don't see those stamps anywhere on the site, you run the risk of sending credit card information, or other personal information to a site that can be fraudulent.

Step 7

Avoid being fooled by the most common scams like foreign lotteries, fake raffles or other similar methods that cybercriminals use to get your personal information and money. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Step 8

Monitor your children's online activities. They should only have access to a computer located in a central area of your home and you should regularly check all browser and email activity. Something smart you can do is using parental control software, that restricts the sites that users can access.