🌐 Web Browser Safety: Small Settings, Big Protection
Your web browser (Chrome, Safari, Edge, or Firefox) is your “front door” to the internet, and just like your home, a few simple locks can make it much safer.
🔧 Settings to Enable
Your Front Door to the Internet
Automatic Updates – Make sure your browser updates automatically. These updates fix security holes that hackers love to exploit.
Pop-up & Ad Blockers – Prevent shady ads and pop-ups that can trick you into clicking on scams.
Privacy Mode – Most browsers let you limit tracking or block third-party cookies. Turn these on to keep your browsing habits more private.
Safe Browsing / Security Warnings – Enable these alerts so your browser warns you before opening a risky site.
👥 Use Profiles Wisely
Set up separate browser profiles for work, personal use, and even family members. This keeps your accounts and data from mixing together—and reduces the risk of one bad click affecting everything.
🔑 Saving Passwords in the Browser
It’s tempting to let Chrome, Safari, or Edge “remember” your passwords. But here’s the catch: if a hacker ever gets access to your computer, they can often steal every saved password in seconds. A dedicated password manager (or a secure offline method) is a much safer choice.
Saving passwords in profiles is also another reason to use a different password for work than you do at home. If your profile is compromised on your home computer, and you are using the same password for work, the hackers now have your work password.
✅ Quick Win: Check your browser settings today. Turn on updates, review what’s being saved, and consider cleaning out stored passwords. Think of it as fall cleaning for your online life.
Your browser is your gateway to the internet, let’s make sure it’s not also a door for hackers.
⚠️ A Note on Browser Extensions
Extensions (like ad blockers, grammar checkers, or coupon finders) can be helpful—but every extension has access to what you do in your browser. That means a shady or hacked extension could spy on your browsing, capture your logins, or inject ads and malware.
✅ Best practice: Only install extensions you truly need, get them from the official browser store, and review them regularly. If you don’t use it anymore, uninstall it. The fewer browser extensions, especially older ones you don’t use, the better for safety.
👵 A Common Scam Targeting Grandparents
Sunday, Sept 7 marks National Grandparents Day, and it’s the perfect time to celebrate the wisdom and love grandparents bring to our lives. Unfortunately, scammers also see grandparents as easy targets, and one of their favorite tricks is the “grandparent scam.”
Here’s how it works:
A grandparent gets a call, text, or email from someone pretending to be their grandchild. The story is urgent—“I’m traveling and got into a car accident” or “I’ve been arrested and need bail money.” The scammer pleads for secrecy (“please don’t tell Mom or Dad”) and pressures the grandparent to send money fast, often by wire transfer, gift cards, or cryptocurrency.
🚫 How to Stay Safe
Pause before acting: Scammers rely on panic. Take a breath.
Verify: Call your grandchild directly (or their parents) at the number you already know, not the one the caller gives you. If the caller insists you stay on the line, ask for a detail that only your grandchild would know, for example, their favorite food that only grandma makes, a beloved pet or happy memory.
Never send money on impulse: Especially through gift cards or wire transfers
Talking about scams openly with family members is one of the best defenses. This Grandparents Day, remind the loved ones in your life that no real emergency should require secrecy or rushing to send money.
✅ Best practice: Have a word or phrase worked out in advance with your grandchildren, so you can verify their identity.
🦄 Who is Suecurity?
Susan Richards aka Sue-curity
🌉 Background: Over 30 years in information technology with a passion for keeping people and data secure.
👑 Achievement: Hosts a weekly HITRUST Secrets discussion and nerds out about security topics.
☕ Quirk: An American patriot through and through, she still enjoys Irish breakfast tea in the mornings!
🎆 The Good News
The Lord will be your confidence; he will guard your feet from being snared - Proverbs 3:26
Be safe,
Sense of Security
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