We are always concerned about keeping our Internet connection secure. Most of the times, as an internet user, you have been proposed different solutions so as to keep your privacy secure: from internet security suite to antivirus, to anti-malware and all kind of stuff that marketing people are selling to you.

In fact, privacy has become a business on the internet nowadays. If I were a cheater, I’ll develop one small program that will show you a “lock” icon on your browser that would tell you that your connection is secure or not (that lock will turn red if you are not secure, and turn green if it’s ok – as opposed to the locked “lock” from your browser ). Knowing how scared people are about their online privacy, I’ll just throw away that little software (that does nothing that toggling between red and green), and I’m pretty sure someone would download (or even buy it) – even though it’s only a placebo internet security solution.

Your “Internet Security” solution is not 100% bulletproof

So what’s my point here? I just want to open your eyes to the following thing: no matter what “internet security” specialist tells you about how great their internet protection suite is, there are few things that you should care: your “internet security” won’t necessarily tell you this unless they’re faced with an actual situation where your computer has still been attacked even though you have their software installed: but even at that time, they may get away by telling you that there are few things that you should have done on your side.

Things you should always check

So here are few things you should check no matter which “internet protection suite” you opt for: have your computer run the latest updates: I know this is an argument that has been told to you so many times. But let’s get into more details here. When I mean, have updated software, this applies to the following:

  • your browser: run the latest version of the browser, and remember to update the plugins/extensions that are installed. If some are reported to be incompatible with your current browser version, just disable them -or even better: uninstall those plugins. Moreover, please keep the list of extensions running with your browser to the minimum – this will leave less security-breach potential,
  • your operating system: people tend to forget it – but this is a crucial element when it comes to keeping your computer secure. Apply the latest security updates that your operating software editor is suggesting you. Most OS now comes with a notification system when some updates are available: take the time to download and apply them,
  • Java and flash: those are common browser components that need to be kept updated as a lot of internet applications rely on those two platforms

As you would see, most “internet security software” don’t mention those items when selling to you. My two cents is that they keep those arguments untold so that they have some kind of backdoor to send back the responsibility to you whenever their system fail. So don’t get us wrong here, even though we are advocating for the use of VPN solutions to keep your privacy secure on the internet, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take care of the previous measures.