Surf Anonymously & Safely: With These 6 Tips You Will Succeed

Our lives are increasingly taking place online. We access our employer's server via a VPN, transfers are only carried out online and appointments are saved in a calendar in the cloud. As many advantages as digitization bring - it also harbors dangers.

Because of what we like to forget in everyday life: When surfing, we are by no means safe or anonymous. An incredible number of companies are collecting as much data as they can possibly collect. Authorities follow our online activities.

If you want to escape this, you can use a few tips and tricks to regain a little more anonymity and security.

 

1. Observe Data Protection for Video Conferences

In the age of home offices, video conferences have become more and more popular and are now almost part of everyday life. It is all the more important that you deal intensively with the subject of data protection. Because in the worst case, the wrong settings could endanger the privacy of all participants.

Many companies use Zoom, a video conferencing service. It came under fire last year for allegedly lacking security. With a few settings, however, it is possible for you as the host to ensure sufficient security.

You must protect your conference with a password. Without this password, nobody can join the meeting - this protects against uninvited guests. Send the password directly to all participants with the announcement of the video conference.

You can also use the settings to protect the privacy of all participants. Turn off file transfer if not needed. You should also deactivate the “Screen sharing” function - the “Mute participant when joining” function, on the other hand, should be activated to avoid embarrassing situations.

If everyone has joined the conference, you can lock the meeting - then nobody can join. Alternatively, you can set up a waiting room and manually allow each participant.

 

2. Always Stay up To Date

You probably use well over 20 different programs in your private and professional everyday life. Be it your online calendar, a password manager, or a video conferencing service like Zoom. It always applies that you should always carry out all updates.

Updates are available from time to time for most programs. These can contain new or revised functions, for example. Much more important, however: They are there to close security gaps and remove bugs.

Security issues can arise in even the best programs. This is why you must install updates as they become available.

Not all services will automatically inform you of this. So check manually regularly whether new updates can be carried out. In doing so, you actively contribute to increasing your security.

 

3. Use Strong Passwords

Most services and tools these days can only be used with one user account. And that also means that you need a password. So well over 20 passwords come together.

Many users, therefore, use the same passwords over and over again or even a universal password for all services. This is absolutely dangerous because if this one password is cracked, criminals have access to different accounts of yours - in the worst case to all of them. There you can collect sensitive data and cause great damage with it.

This is why you must use a unique password for each website and program. Even if it is then cracked by hackers, the damage is unlikely to be that great.

Again, you can prevent this by using not only unique but also secure passwords. Many users use very insecure passwords like “12345” or “Password”. Criminals guess such passwords in seconds - they don't even need their professional tools that can crack passwords.

Strong passwords have several properties. They should be at least 10 characters long, preferably 12. You should use different characters (lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers, and special characters) and arrange them in random order.

Also, make sure to change the preset passwords immediately and not use your new passwords more than once. If you suspect that your password has been stolen, you should change it immediately.

Try to remember your passwords with a donkey bridge. You shouldn't write them down anywhere - not on sticky notes on your screen, or in a Word document.

If you have trouble memorizing a lot of complicated passwords, consider using a password manager. You enter all passwords in the secured database. To then access the passwords, you must enter a master password. This should of course be very secure and contain as many characters as possible.

Many password managers also offer you 2-factor authentication. Then the master password alone is not enough - you will then be sent a code to your smartphone, for example, which you must also enter.

 

4. Configure Your Browser Correctly

Aside from hackers, your browser settings can also threaten your privacy. A well-known example is cookies. They should actually make surfing easier for you - but nowadays they are mainly used for (cross-platform) tracking.

If you completely deactivate cookies, this will severely limit your use. For example, you can then no longer use the log-in function or the shopping cart. However, you can block third-party cookies and at least curb tracking. With a private window, you also protect yourself against browser fingerprinting.

A fundamental problem, however, is that many browsers also collect data from you themselves. The best example is Google Chrome - Google is known for collecting data like crazy.

Therefore you better use Firefox or the Brave Browser. The latter is an open-source browser with which you can easily delete recorded data. Comprehensive protective measures such as ad-blocking and anti-browser fingerprinting are set by default.

 

5. Optimize Google

When it comes to search engines, Google is way ahead of the competition. You can't get past Google. Read the data protection regulations and deactivate all tracking and tracing options if possible.

Important to know: There are also alternatives. Because there are now many search engines that have made it their business to combine the best search experience with the preservation of privacy.

DuckDuckGo now has over ten million searches a day. The search engine does not save your IP address, does not use tracking cookies, and uses encryption with HTTPS. There is also a hidden service and you can even access DuckDuckGo over the Tor network.

Startpage is also a safe alternative to Google. The self-proclaimed “most discreet search engine in the world” does not store any IP addresses, does not use tracking cookies, and even has an EU data protection certificate.

 

6. Surf with Tor or a VPN

You can ensure even more privacy and security with a VPN. This allows you to surf with a different IP address and encrypt all of your communication. Many Internet service providers record the activities of their customers and sell them for advertising purposes. In some cases, they will also throttle your connection.

Alternatively, you can use the Tor network. It consists of several layers and also encrypts your communication. I recommend a VPN because it's faster and easier than the Tor network.

 

Conclusion: More Anonymity and Security Are Possible

If you just start surfing these days, you risk your privacy. Whether hackers, internet providers, or your own browser - many offices are just waiting to collect your data. They are sold, collected for advertising, or recorded for other purposes.

Realize that you can protect yourself from all of this. And that is neither expensive nor particularly time-consuming.

To keep yourself safe you should use the best total security software.