{"id":47921,"date":"2014-04-01T16:51:04","date_gmt":"2014-04-01T16:51:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?p=47921"},"modified":"2014-04-03T19:20:33","modified_gmt":"2014-04-03T19:20:33","slug":"3-ways-guard-darkside-internet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Ways to Guard Against the Darkside of the Internet"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

3 Ways to Guard Against the Darkside of the Internet<\/h3>\n

Anti-virus software and regular updates are not enough to protect against the danger lurking online..–PC Pitstop.<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

By Dave for PCTechBytes.com<\/p>\n

The Internet is a vast wonderland of free sites and services, a glorious cornucopia of software and information donated through the kindness of others who expect nothing in return. Unlike the real world, there is no deceit, no scams or greed-driven conspirators trying to make a buck at your expense. The Internet is a virtual field of green pastures where no one and nothing can do you harm.<\/p>\n

If only that were the case.<\/p>\n

As most of us already know the Internet is not a Xanadu of technological gifts we\u2019re entitled to. It\u2019s the back alley of any metropolis where danger can be lurking under the guise of a friendly clown face or actively seeking you out with claws and fangs exposed. The Internet is not a safe place.<\/p>\n

But even though most of us already know this, we continue to make mistakes in our daily computing lives that put our systems and privacy at risk. It simply is not enough to run antivirus software and make sure we have the most recent Microsoft updates. You have to proactively counter those out there looking for a foothold, a moment of weakness where you let your guard down and expose yourself.<\/p>\n

The follow are a list of things you can do to immediately improve your computer security:<\/a><\/p>\n

This post is excerpted with the permission of PCTechBytes.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anti-virus software and regular updates are not enough to protect against the danger lurking online.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":47355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3974],"tags":[483],"class_list":["post-47921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pctechbytes-2","tag-internet-security"],"yoast_head":"\n3 Ways to Guard Against the Darkside of the Internet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"3 Ways to Guard Against the Darkside of the Internet-Anti-virus software and regular updates are not enough to protect against the danger lurking online.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 Ways to Guard Against the Darkside of the Internet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"3 Ways to Guard Against the Darkside of the Internet-Anti-virus software and regular updates are not enough to protect against the danger lurking online.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PC Matic Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-04-01T16:51:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-04-03T19:20:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/evil150.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"150\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"150\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"PCTechBytes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"PCTechBytes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"PCTechBytes\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7d5e43a8059de95225315464f33e6e98\"},\"headline\":\"3 Ways to Guard Against the Darkside of the Internet\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-01T16:51:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-04-03T19:20:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":268,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/evil150.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"internet security\"],\"articleSection\":[\"PCTechBytes\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\\\/\",\"name\":\"3 Ways to Guard Against the Darkside of the Internet\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/evil150.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-01T16:51:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-04-03T19:20:33+00:00\",\"description\":\"3 Ways to Guard Against the Darkside of the Internet-Anti-virus software and regular updates are not enough to protect against the danger lurking online.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/evil150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/evil150.jpg\",\"width\":150,\"height\":150},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"3 Ways to Guard Against the Darkside of the Internet\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"PC Matic Blog\",\"description\":\"Tech Tips and Tricks\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png\",\"width\":1535,\"height\":483,\"caption\":\"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA.\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/pcmatic\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/pcmatic\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/pcmaticusa\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/pcmatic\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/c\\\/PCMaticVideo\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7d5e43a8059de95225315464f33e6e98\",\"name\":\"PCTechBytes\",\"description\":\"PCTechBytes has been a provider of free online tech support since 2002. PCTechBytes was built around providing free computer help advice for those who seek answers online -- through articles, tutorials and a thriving tech community dedicated to helping and learning from each other.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/pctechbytes.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/pctechbytes\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"3 Ways to Guard Against the Darkside of the Internet","description":"3 Ways to Guard Against the Darkside of the Internet-Anti-virus software and regular updates are not enough to protect against the danger lurking online.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"3 Ways to Guard Against the Darkside of the Internet","og_description":"3 Ways to Guard Against the Darkside of the Internet-Anti-virus software and regular updates are not enough to protect against the danger lurking online.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\/","og_site_name":"PC Matic Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic","article_published_time":"2014-04-01T16:51:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-04-03T19:20:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":150,"height":150,"url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/evil150.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"PCTechBytes","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@pcmatic","twitter_site":"@pcmatic","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"PCTechBytes","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\/"},"author":{"name":"PCTechBytes","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7d5e43a8059de95225315464f33e6e98"},"headline":"3 Ways to Guard Against the Darkside of the Internet","datePublished":"2014-04-01T16:51:04+00:00","dateModified":"2014-04-03T19:20:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\/"},"wordCount":268,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/evil150.jpg","keywords":["internet security"],"articleSection":["PCTechBytes"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\/","name":"3 Ways to Guard Against the Darkside of the Internet","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/evil150.jpg","datePublished":"2014-04-01T16:51:04+00:00","dateModified":"2014-04-03T19:20:33+00:00","description":"3 Ways to Guard Against the Darkside of the Internet-Anti-virus software and regular updates are not enough to protect against the danger lurking online.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/evil150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/evil150.jpg","width":150,"height":150},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/3-ways-guard-darkside-internet\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"3 Ways to Guard Against the Darkside of the Internet"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/","name":"PC Matic Blog","description":"Tech Tips and Tricks","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA.","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png","width":1535,"height":483,"caption":"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA."},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic","https:\/\/x.com\/pcmatic","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pcmaticusa\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/pcmatic","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/PCMaticVideo"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7d5e43a8059de95225315464f33e6e98","name":"PCTechBytes","description":"PCTechBytes has been a provider of free online tech support since 2002. PCTechBytes was built around providing free computer help advice for those who seek answers online -- through articles, tutorials and a thriving tech community dedicated to helping and learning from each other.","sameAs":["http:\/\/pctechbytes.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/author\/pctechbytes\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}