With recent large hacks and increasing sophisticated schemes, we should also be protecting ourselves with even more sophisticated defensive strategies to protect our identities online. These strategies include behavioral best practices, choosing the right brands, and sometimes even adopting entirely new technology. 

Let’s look at some important ways to keep your sensitive information safe on the web.

Distinguishing VPNs

Virtual Private Networks are a key part of any hacker’s toolbelt. We use them seemingly for everything including our normal browsing or accessing a different catalog on Netflix. Being able to change the location of your IP address has become a basic part of navigating the eb for many of us. 

Even as we recognize more and more that they are not just for accessing more parts of the web, but that VPNs also protect you from hackers, we do not always have it clear what separates the good from the best VPNs. In fact, some will work well for the former purpose, but not so much for the latter. 

Your IPN is an important part of how you may be tracked online. It is not the only part, but it is a key track that you should be covering-  All VPNs will assign you a new IP address, but the best ones, and really the only ones you should be using, will also encrypt your original address.

If not, finding your original IP address will be rather easy for even low level hackers. This is a simple step of taking an extra moment to find the right VPN for you, which can save you a big headache down the line. 

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Using Trusted Websites That Take Security Seriously

In some sense, there is only so much you can do. At some point in your online experience, you are likely to hand over personal data to a website at some point to make a purchase or register for an event or a government office. While not unavoidable, it is important to have some idea of how to do so securely. 

The experts at Asiabet, for example, review betting sites across Asia for their security. Because of their well-researched reviews, you can sign up with confidence at sites you know have a good reputation and secure deposit mechanisms, They even have legal advice for using these sites, as you browse your options. 

You can use experts who review pages like the above example, or you can use forums to find potential complaints or evidence for reputations from different websites. Other times, the good ole word of mouth is a great place to start your research. 

Know Your Alternatives

Just because it is a big household does not necessarily mean they are protecting your identity. Businesses do not generally become famous and widely adapted for protecting pirates. it can almost seem to be the exact opposite sometimes, as if by design. 

Sometimes the biggest names become so big because they sell our data. It is important to have some alternatives to the big brand names, so we can find safer places to conduct our online lives. 

A big example is the messaging app WhatsApp. It is operated by Meta, the company previously known as Facebook. That should be enough to tell you that your data is likely to be used for all kinds of algorithms and digital projects for more information, see Nytimes.com. With roughly 2 billion users, this messaging app is certainly a big player on the scene.

Many alternative messaging apps have sprung up. They pride themselves on employing more advanced and complete encryption methods, and in pledging to keep your conversations 100% private, anonymous, and inaccessible for anyone besides the users in the chat.

You can also find alternatives for things like browsers, payment methods, and more.

Never Too Early

It is a great time to reinforce your efforts to protect your identity online. This goes for whether you are just browsing Wikipedia but do not feel like having the government or others watching you, or if you are doing more exciting activities. You have a right to privacy, but it is one you have to work to protect. These are just some of the steps you can take to ensure your continued access to this right.