TIPS TO STAY SECURE ONLINE

Staying vigilant online in the face of growing cyberattacks.  

It is important to stay vigilant online in the face of growing cyberattacks.  MASSPIRG Consumer Action Center encourages you to take precautionary measures to help stay safe:

Do a complete back up.  It is always a good idea to store your data on an external hard drive   or elsewhere.

Make sure your anti-virus is up-to-date.  Having the latest security software is the best defense against viruses, malware, and other online threats.

Apply system and application updates.  Making sure your operating system is up to date will help contain the spread of malware.  Turn on automatic updates.

Don’t click too quickly. Always check an email’s content for legitimacy. Hover over a link and see if it is going to a reliable URL. 

When in doubt, throw it out. Links in emails, tweets, posts, and online advertising are the doorway for malware. If it looks suspicious, even if you know the source, it’s best to delete.

Adapted from Security Expert Gary Davis at McAffee,  June 27, 2017.

Working in cooperation with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, the MASSPIRG Consumer Action Center in Weymouth resolves disputes between consumers and businesses through negotiation and mediation on a wide range of issues, including automobile sales and repair, home improvement transactions, debt collection and credit problems, retail sales and advertising, and landlord-tenant disputes, among others. As a cost-free, independent agency dealing specifically with consumer problems in Massachusetts, MASSPIRG’s Consumer Action Center is a vital asset to consumers in the BayState. Since 1989, the CAC staff have mediated over 15,000 complaints and returned over $3,500,000 to Massachusetts consumers. If you have a consumer problem, please call our office at 781-335-0280.

Authors

Jeanne Foy

Director, Consumer Action Center, MASSPIRG

Jeanne is the director of MASSPIRG's Consumer Action Center, working in cooperation with the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office to provide consumer information, assistance and referrals. Jeanne was part of a collaborative effort to author and publish CAR SMART: A Consumer's Guide to Buying, Leasing and Repairing a Car in Massachusetts. Jeanne lives on the South Shore of Massachusetts with her family, where she enjoys reading, cooking and being near the ocean.