“Oh my God, I’m never doing anything on-line again!,” is a common reaction to one of my web application hacking presentations. Recently I’ve been demonstrating how easily the average website or user can be hacked. No doubt scaring audiences has a certain mass appeal and gets people to pay attention to why the right security practices are of vital importance. People frequently ask if I still bank or shop online (of course I do), or how they can protect themselves when they do. For those who are not experts in computer security, here are my top 5 tips to a safer online experience (in addition to having firewalls, anti-virus, and patching diligently).

1) Switch your web browsers to Firefox, Mozilla, Safari, or anything else besides Internet Explorer

This is probably the single most important thing you can do to protect yourself online. I’ve mentioned before that I’m a fan of staying secure by staying out of the line of fire. Internet Explorer is well known for being in the crosshairs of viruses, spyware, and adware. I know I know, Microsoft is releasing the highly anticipated version 7, supposedly a security light-year ahead of everything else. A web browser so revolutionary it’s being pushed as a mandatory upgrade! Talk about an attractive target for malicious hackers. In my view it’s best to use an alternate product and remain out of the fray. If a website REALLY does need IE and you REALLY need to use the website, make sure the website is legit, then it’s reasonably safe to fire up IE.


2) Add more security to your web browser

No matter what browser you choose, the Web is a hostile place and they all need a little help to defend themselves. NoScript (Firefox extension), Netcraft Anti-Phishing Toolbar, E-Bay Toolbar, and Google Toolbar are great products that do just that. These add-ons help identify phishing websites, prevent your computer from being hacked, and passwords from falling into the wrong hands. Most people will only need the first two add-ons, but if you are an E-Bay buyer, using theirs is essential is well.