Lack of knowledge on issues regarding the Internet usually leads to many problems. Getting educated is an obligation we have towards ourselves. It makes no sense to use digital online communication tools without knowing how to protect ourselves.
Below we will present some of the most common questions about Internet issues that users are facing online and try to answer them in an understandable way. So, let’s get started.
1. Are we being monitored on the Internet?
You need to have in mind that everything we type and every click we make online is recorded in systems and databases.
So, huge amounts of data are collected about our activities. When companies collect information on a massive scale, they can draw accurate conclusions and observe and track our behavior. That does not change. That’s how the internet works.
Huge companies (like Google, Facebook etc) make money with the massive amount of data that they collect from us. So, yes we are being monitored in one way or another!!
2. What does the phrase “my account is hacked” mean?
It has various meanings but usually refers to that someone got unauthorized access to your account usually by stealing your password or by breaking into your account which had weak credentials.
It also means “I made a huge mistake and clicked somewhere that I should not have clicked.”
3. What is the “recipe” for successful social media presence?
Have a life. The more you live, the more interesting your posts will be. The less you live and the fewer activities you have in your real life, the shallower you will seem on your social media posts.
4. What is an influencer online?
Someone who has an influential online presence is considered an “influencer”. In other words, we would say that the influencer does not have to be a “famous” person in social media but one who often becomes a “point of reference” for others.
Sometimes, certain social media accounts become “points of reference” and are built to gain popularity. So, different people can write the same thought, but that thought will emerge from the specific “point of reference”.
5. What is the most dangerous thing on the internet?
The fact that anything that is published online will stay online forever and can be shared and distributed instantly, either in its original form or modified, is dangerous for people’s privacy.
On the other hand, this “threat” is also one of the biggest treasures on the web because this feature is the basis of free information sharing. There is virtually no “hazard” on the internet. There is only “wise use”.
6. Do hackers want our data?
In the good old days (of the dial-up modem era), hackers just wanted to tease you and maybe kick you out of an IRC channel or crash your windows PC (blue screen of death anyone :).
Nowadays, hacking is a big-money business. Moreover, data is the new money. So the answer is YES, hackers actually want your data (e.g credit card details, login credentials, social security numbers etc). They might also choose to restrict access to your data (e.g encrypt your documents with ransomware) so that they will demand money from you.
7. How do advertisements on the Internet differ from TV ads?
An ad on television, at a specific moment, is the same for everyone who is watching TV that moment.
On the other hand, an ad on Facebook or Google, at a specific moment, is not the same for everyone – it is the most “appropriate” for each user based on their activity (the concept of activity tracking we talked above).
8. What are some ways to protect my social media accounts?
The most popular method of accessing your account is with a username and password. Of course, more advanced users utilize stronger authentication methods such as two-factor authentication, but regular people use their passwords only.
Therefore, the first line of defense to protect your online accounts (social media, email etc) is to use strong passwords (8-10 characters longs that contains small letters, capital letters, numbers etc).
Another way to protect your self is to be very careful with phishing emails. Do not click on links in an email that looks suspicious. Try to suppress your curiosity and never click on suspicious links.
9. Who is the most “dangerous” user?
The one who does not know the system settings of the space in which he or she is working. At some point they will “mess up” and 99.99% they will drag others with them.
10. Why are we so annoyed by people who take selfies?
We are annoyed by the regular repetition of the same “frame”. Every exaggeration ends up to be a repellent behavior.
We are also constantly annoyed by those who are always talking about their work or any other matter. The monotonous repetition creates a sense of exaggeration [and entrapment in a specific thematic context] and becomes tedious for others.
Author Bio:
Harris Andrea is an IT professional working in a big ISP in Europe. He has been a technologist for more than 18 years with experience in networking, information security, electronics etc. He loves to write about anything related to technology and owns various technology blogs, two of them are shown below:
