Safer Internet Day 2018 takes place on Tuesday 6 February and is a celebration of the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and young people.

The day is an opportunity to highlight positive uses of technology and to explore the role we all play in the British Council in helping to create a better and safer online community.

  1. Be aware of the scams. Read articles and blogs, follow the news, and share this so you can understand the different kinds of scams and what you can do to avoid them and also help your family and friends
  2. Think before you click.Never click on hyperlinks in messages from people you don’t know. These phishing emails have hyperlinks that lead to websites that can lure you into giving personal information or download malware to your computer. You should even be wary with emails from people you do know if it looks or sounds suspicious. Hackers can create a malicious email that looks like it came from you’re a recognised source.
  3. Check safely. Beware of fake websites. These sites may have an address that’s very similar to a genuine site, but the page can have misspellings or bad grammar. However, scammers are very good at replicating sites so be alert.
  4. Shop safely. Don’t shop on a site unless it has the “https” and sometimes a padlock icon to the left of the URL. You could also use a credit card instead of a debit card while shopping online. A credit card company is more likely to reimburse you for fraudulent charges.
  5. Protect your information. Back up all of your data on your computer, smartphone and tablet in the event of loss or theft. You could also routinely check your various financial statements for uncertain activity.
  6. Follow good password practices. The use of strong passwords is essential to protect your security and identity. Use a unique, complex password for every account you own and change them on a regular basis.   
  7. Keep up to date. Always protect your devices with reliable antivirus and security software. Also, make sure that your antivirus software is set for auto update and regular device scan is scheduled to ensure you don’t lose any data online.
  8. Adjust your privacy settings. Information about you, your family and friends should only be shared with those you know well.
  9. Be careful what you post online. Once you've put some information or pictures online, other people may be able to see it and download it, it may not just be yours anymore.
  10. If you do get hacked. Change your password immediately from uninfected machine. Usually, when you are hacked, a spam email will be sent to all your contacts. If you find out this has happened, change your password to something completely different. Alert the people that may have received a spam email from your account to delete it immediately without opening it. Your device needs to be inspected and infection cleared. Seek technical support if you don’t feel capable to do it yourself.