Post by seren on Dec 3, 2008 23:25:33 GMT -5
Be safe online; don't trust anyone unless you know that person in real life and know for certain what their username is.
Things to not reveal:
-Your age. No one needs to know if you're thirteen, forty, seventy, or whatever.
-Where you live. It's alright if you say that you live in the United States or Oklahoma, but don't say what city you live in, what street, etc.
-Your school. It doesn't matter so much if you describe what it looks like (vaguely), but you should stay away from actual names.
-Name (especially last). Yes, I know there're extremely common names (Kevin Nguyen, for example), but it's still not a risk worth taking. Use a fake name if there's a website that says to register with a first and last names.
-Social security number(s). Pretty self-explanatory/common sense.
-Images of yourself. There is still a possibility that someone will be able to track you down because of these.
-Your postal/ZIP code (if you are on a site like amazon where you are ordering an item, then obviously, yes, you do have to fill this out, but make sure that it is a stable site that will not steal your information.)
One more thing that's very important to know about our site: DO NOT CLICK ANY OF THE ADS LISTED ON THE TOP OR BOTTOM! PROBOARDS IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL AD CHOICES, AND WE CANNOT GUARANTEE THAT ALL LINKS ARE 100% SAFE!
Also, there is always a risk of your computer catching viruses just from being online. You may not think so, but every time you load a page, cookies and other programs can find their way onto your computer. Not all of them (cookies, for example) are harmful to your computer's health, but some of them are. To prevent harmful viruses and spyware, we highly recommend that you purchase anti-virus software or download free versions.
Ones that Seren recommends:
-Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware (this does not grant you full virus protection; it merely detects adware/spyware/whatever your main anti-virus protection doesn't pick up.)
-SpyBot Search and Destroy (is not compatible with McAfee. It can be kind of annoying as whenever anything is detected it will ask you if you want to allow it or not. Very effective, overall, though. Again, not full virus protection.)
-AVG Anti-Virus Free Version (free, as in the title, and very affective. There isn't really any need to buy the full version, as this one works just as well.)
-Ad-Aware (performs relatively fast scans of your computer for junk files, ads, etc.)
-McAfee Security Center (although I have had my share of annoyances with it, it has served its purpose for a number of years. It should be cheaper, though, as it's not the best software I've ever used, and the scans take about four hours and do not always catch everything.)
*******This will be updated frequently with new information.*******
Things to not reveal:
-Your age. No one needs to know if you're thirteen, forty, seventy, or whatever.
-Where you live. It's alright if you say that you live in the United States or Oklahoma, but don't say what city you live in, what street, etc.
-Your school. It doesn't matter so much if you describe what it looks like (vaguely), but you should stay away from actual names.
-Name (especially last). Yes, I know there're extremely common names (Kevin Nguyen, for example), but it's still not a risk worth taking. Use a fake name if there's a website that says to register with a first and last names.
-Social security number(s). Pretty self-explanatory/common sense.
-Images of yourself. There is still a possibility that someone will be able to track you down because of these.
-Your postal/ZIP code (if you are on a site like amazon where you are ordering an item, then obviously, yes, you do have to fill this out, but make sure that it is a stable site that will not steal your information.)
One more thing that's very important to know about our site: DO NOT CLICK ANY OF THE ADS LISTED ON THE TOP OR BOTTOM! PROBOARDS IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL AD CHOICES, AND WE CANNOT GUARANTEE THAT ALL LINKS ARE 100% SAFE!
Also, there is always a risk of your computer catching viruses just from being online. You may not think so, but every time you load a page, cookies and other programs can find their way onto your computer. Not all of them (cookies, for example) are harmful to your computer's health, but some of them are. To prevent harmful viruses and spyware, we highly recommend that you purchase anti-virus software or download free versions.
Ones that Seren recommends:
-Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware (this does not grant you full virus protection; it merely detects adware/spyware/whatever your main anti-virus protection doesn't pick up.)
-SpyBot Search and Destroy (is not compatible with McAfee. It can be kind of annoying as whenever anything is detected it will ask you if you want to allow it or not. Very effective, overall, though. Again, not full virus protection.)
-AVG Anti-Virus Free Version (free, as in the title, and very affective. There isn't really any need to buy the full version, as this one works just as well.)
-Ad-Aware (performs relatively fast scans of your computer for junk files, ads, etc.)
-McAfee Security Center (although I have had my share of annoyances with it, it has served its purpose for a number of years. It should be cheaper, though, as it's not the best software I've ever used, and the scans take about four hours and do not always catch everything.)
*******This will be updated frequently with new information.*******