The internet is full of scammers waiting to take advantage of the most unsuspecting online users. Hence, website security is vital if you are to remain safe online. Most scammers use websites to get to you through downloads or by just visiting their sites. Before downloading from a site, is it not worth it to ask yourself a question like, is this website safe to download from? Posing such a question before taking any step while online saves you from the agony of losing your data to an online scammer.
It is important that you practice online safety by making it a personal initiative. There are elements that an online user should look into in order to confirm whether the website they are on is safe to download from.
1.Double-check URLs
This a simple safety check that ensures that you are aware of the site you are about to visit. It only takes a short period of your time and is worth every second of your time as you are able to save yourself from going to sites where you are likely to get robbed. You can double-check the URLs by hovering the cursor on the link before clicking on it.
You can also cross-check the URL to ensure that it is of the right spelling. Do not be rush to click and download on websites before confirming the URL.
2.Check for S in HTTPS
Most URLs commence with HTTPS rather than HTTP, which illustrates that the URLs are encrypted. Encrypting a site means that it has been secured in a way. HTTPS sites are secure thanks to the security accorded by the SSL certificate. This, therefore, ensures the safety of any sensitive data that is inputted to the site during its transfer to the server from the site.
Hence, the lack of the SSL certificate culminates in the exposure of the data to cybercriminals. Therefore, if you are at a website and want to download any item from the site, ask yourself ‘is this website safe to download from’ and answer it by double-checking its URL to ensure that the HTTP has an S to make it HTTPS. Regardless of the activity that you are undertaking on a website, be it logging in, inputting email addresses, or settling a payment, ensure the URL is SSL protected.
3.Find the Website’s Privacy Policy
All legitimate websites have privacy policies. Privacy policies are a prerequisite by data privacy regulation in nations such as Australia plus Canada for all that own websites. The major role of a data privacy policy is to stipulate how the website intends to collect, use, and protect your data.
It is vital for any genuine site to have privacy laws as via the laws, online users can conclude that you care about complying with the privacy laws, plus ensuring that the website is secure. As an online user, be careful with the sites that you visit and share your information. Always ensure that a website has privacy regulations, find it and read through prior to sharing your information with the website.
4.Locate Their Website’s Contact Information
A secure website always displays its contact information including email addresses, telephone or mobile numbers, and physical presence plus social media handle if any. Websites with contact information tend to be trusted more than those without. Having contact info of a website implies that you can easily get to the owners through customer support.
You can make a call or email the website owners to find out if the contact details are legit. Even though the contact info is not enough to trust a website, they lessen the fears associated with downloading or sharing personal data with a website, as the details provide you with the information you can use to get to the website owners in the event of anything.
5.Verify Their Trust Badge
You will most likely be able to tell whether a website has a trust seal by spotting icons with terms such as ‘Secure’ or ‘Verified’. The trust seal is vital as it is a clear indication of a website being in partnership with a security firm.
A site with a trust badge is secure and often implies that the site’s URL is an HTTPS with the SSL certificate. moreover, the trust seal can also be communicating the website’s safety extent as it could be indicative of the last malware scan of the website.
You should know that seeing the trust badge is not enough to trust a website. You must ensure that the trust seal is genuine. You can check for the badge’s legitimacy by just clicking on the badge. By clicking on the seal, you instantly get redirected to the site of the verifying company. Moreover, you can research the verifying company to ensure that the company is genuine too.
Conclusion
Internet security is a personal initiative. You have to be keen on the websites you visit and download content from. Follow the above procedures and always question yourself like this; is this website safe to download from? for the sake of ensuring that the website you want to download from is safe and secure, and that will not expose you to hackers and other cybercriminals.
