Unfortunately, there are many security threats that can exist when browsing the Internet. Simply by entering a fake website, they could steal your passwords, data or sneak in some malware. Therefore, it is always convenient to take certain precautions and be prepared to avoid problems.
security applications
Our advice is that you always install this type of programs from official sources. That will also help you maintain security and make them work properly. In addition, it is convenient to review information on the Internet where you can read comments from other users, independent reports to assess those applications, etc.
anti virus
An essential is always the antivirus. It is the program that will help you detect malware, such as viruses or Trojans. It cannot be missing on your computer, but neither on mobile devices. There are multiple options and simply by doing a search you will find many free and paid alternatives.
For example, we can name some antivirus such as Avast, Bitdefender or Microsoft Defender itself. Ideally, you should review its characteristics very well and look for information to use one of guarantees. If you accidentally download a malicious file, it will issue a warning and you can remove it.
VPN
We also consider a VPN to be another of the applications that cannot be missing to surf the Internet safely. Beyond allowing access to pages that may be blocked in a certain country or expanding the billboard in Streaming services, it also helps you to protect your privacy and security.
If you connect to public Wi-Fi networks, such as in an airport or shopping center, you don’t really know who is behind that network. There could be intruders ready to steal your data and compromise your privacy. What a VPN does is encrypt the connection and make everything you send go through a kind of tunnel. Options like NordVPN or Surfshark are widely used.
key manager
We must mention the importance of key managers today on the Internet. If you do things right, you will usually have a password for each account you use. For example, a password for Facebook, a different one for the bank account, email, Amazon, etc. In addition, each one of them must be completely random, so it is difficult to memorize all of them.
That’s where they come into play password managers. They are programs that store the keys and allow you to log in easily, without having to memorize all of them. You will only have to remember the master password, the one that allows you to use that program. We can name, as examples, 1Password, NordPass or LastPass.
Firewall
have a firewall is yet another security application that we must add to this list. Its mission is to block dangerous connections that could compromise your devices. In addition, you could also decide at any time which application you are going to give permissions or not to have access to the network.
Windows itself has its own firewall, but you will also find many other options such as ZoneAlarm, TinyWall or Netdefender, to name a few. As in the case of antivirus, it is key to use one that is reliable and always downloaded from official sources so as not to have problems.
file encryption
Finally, another security program to avoid problems, are those that allow encrypt files. They are very useful for saving important documents, which may have sensitive data and you do not want them to be exposed on the network in case an intruder manages to access that device.
You can use applications like 7-Zip or WinRAR to encrypt files with AES. If you are going to share documents over the Internet or use the cloud, these applications are going to be very useful to prevent that content from being available to an attacker.
As you see, these 5 programs to navigate safely online are very useful. There are more options, logically, but we consider that they are interesting for any user. Always keep in mind the importance of installing them from official sources and check the configuration very well.
