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Are you ever worried about getting hacked?

Keldi

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Worries like this pop in my head every now and then. I've thought of creating a back-up email account but it's hard to be 100% sure and safe.
So does this thought ever cross your mind?
 
ever since the metropolitan police virus that happened to me many years ago, the thought of being hacked crosses my mind sometimes. i don't know if the virus counts as a hack, but yeah
i worry about people being able to watch me through the camera on my phone or the webcam on my laptop, that's my biggest concern if i was ever hacked
 
I've never had the displeasure of being hacked at any point, save for having a virus that took down my computer. If you're concerned about being hacked, here's a few tips to keep you from getting viruses/getting phished:

  • Don't open any suspicious emails whose origin you can't place. Even if you can place the origin, do not open any links in emails without being absolutely certain where the link is going.
  • If your friend on instant messenger abruptly sends you a link, especially one you haven't spoken to in a while, DO NOT CLICK IT; ask them what they're linking you to instead. Chances are they've been hacked and the person who hacked them is trying to spread it. (Most of the time, your friend will wind up telling you not to click it in a day or so.)
  • Get an ad-blocker for your browser. You can choose to disable it on certain sites if you'd like to support them; this is simply to prevent from random websites giving you malicious ads.
  • On virtual pet sites and alternative emails, CHECK THE URL ON YOUR BROWSER; if it isn't spelled correctly or doesn't match the site, you've likely been redirected to a phishing site. This is especially likely if you were suddenly logged out.
  • Use this tool for tinyURLs and other shortened URLs, as well as previewing any links that you haven't gone to before; it will give you all the information of where the link is going. (You can use it for other links, too!) If you forget to use this, enable the preview feature on tinyURL so you preview it before you go to any sites.
  • Usually sites will not ask you for your username and password more than once.
  • Have pop-ups disabled in your browser by default. You can enable them later on specific sites if need be.
  • Don't browse without anti-virus and anti-spyware/malware software. If you don't have them, a free alternative that you can get is Spybot: Search and Destroy. The upgradeable version goes for pretty cheap, too.
  • If you do get pop-ups or ads, don't believe random ones that try to scare you into paying a fee or getting a certain piece of software in order to clean up your computer. These are generally scams.

Essentially, just play smart and be sure you know where you're going on the web. Also, trust Google's algorithm for identifying unsafe sites. Some sites can get fraudulent warnings, but this isn't common and you should only ignore your browser's/Google's warning if you're absolutely sure it's a safe site.
 
not really worried, i try to be as safe as possible but there's still a risk that someone will get access to my stuff. i wouldn't save credit card information or something like that on my email or something lol.

i'm more worried about getting malware on my computer than about being hacked
 
Having studied a bit of cyber-security, I do not fear this. There are only a bit of precautions that you can take, that can create a huge difference.
 
I'm afraid of people hacking my webcamera, so I always have a tape covering it :eek:
 
i guess not since i practice zero internet safety lol
 
I don't really get worried about getting hacked. I guess the reason is because the last time I ever used a computer that had a virus on it was that our old Windows XP computer (we held onto that thing until, I'm not kidding, around the end of 2015 or beginning of 2016, well after Microsoft had dropped support for it, and we had it since 2003, with it having XP since 2005) got hacked in 2009 and was infected with a virus, but ever since then, I've never had a computer get hacked or infected (Windows and Mac). Over the years I have heard about people I knew at school having their Facebook accounts get hacked, which for some reason I guess that's what I think of when I think about getting "hacked".
 
I go through spurts where I freak out & change all my passwords like monthly or bi-monthly, look into anti-malware, create backup emails, set up 2 factor authentication, delete accounts on websites I don't use anymore, etc. and then I end up getting too busy to keep that up so I stop for a while until I start getting worried again and I go through the process for a bit.
 
Not really. I follow the common sense tips that Rhapsody posted, plus 1) I have a sticker over my webcam and I never use it anyways, and 2) even if I did get hacked, there's not much of anything important on my laptop anyways. Credit cards? Social security numbers? Personal info? Sorry, I don't have any of that on here, but I do have some Ban•Zelda memes if you want those :lemon:
 
No, I'm very precautious in general. And even if I do get hacked there's nothing worthwhile in my emails anyways, and I don't link my credit cards. Most of my important **** is backed up offline.
 
No. Most things can be prevented by simply using common sense: don‘t click on weird ads, don‘t open weird emails and don‘t download weird stuff. Unless, of course, you are inside a VM and want to deliberately screw with scammers a bit. Using Linux helps, too :cool:
 
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Thank you so much for these tips! I already know a few of them but I didn't know opening emails could harm you! :0

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I'm afraid of people hacking my webcamera, so I always have a tape covering it :eek:

Me too! I have glittery pink washi tape over it! I watch way too many goverment conspiracies XD
 
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I'm afraid of people hacking my webcamera, so I always have a tape covering it :eek:

You should be less worried about people hacking it and more worried about the government watching you through it, which they can do hassle free thanks to Microsoft putting backdoors in their software.
 
You should be less worried about people hacking it and more worried about the government watching you through it, which they can do hassle free thanks to Microsoft putting backdoors in their software.

:s
 
You should be less worried about people hacking it and more worried about the government watching you through it, which they can do hassle free thanks to Microsoft putting backdoors in their software.

And the argument I always give to this is: so what?
If I didn't have my cam covered, then they'd get to see my dead expressionless face for hours as I do homework or look something up on a video game. That's it.
I mean maybe if they check up everyday they'll notice 1 day "oh he has some chocolate around his lips, he must've just eaten chocolate hm yes very interesting" and anyone knowing this info about me helps them... how?
 
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