Antivirus, Enterprise, GDPR, Internet Security, Uncategorised

5 steps to protect your personal information online

The internet has improved our lives in a number of different ways. Most businesses have chosen the internet as their…

Published 9 years ago in 28th January 2018

By John

5 steps to protect your personal information online

The internet has improved our lives in a number of different ways. Most businesses have chosen the internet as their primary means of making profits through selling their products online. Large companies are also using the internet to advertise their products and reach potential buyers without having to travel to their showrooms or retail stores. This makes it vital for you to protect your personal information online in 2018.

When it comes to entertainment and leisure, people are choosing social media as the perfect place to relax and get to meet new people. Although the internet has made our lives easier than ever before, have you ever thought of how susceptible your identity or privacy is to hackers, scams and other security threats?

The internet has become a dangerous place today. Privacy is becoming an increasingly rare commodity and that’s because most people are not fully aware of the dangers. What we can see is just the tip of an iceberg with serious threats being hidden underneath.

With an increase in networks, websites, and social media platforms, most people are continuously and carelessly revealing their identity online without having a second thought. In the process, you expose your personal information to third-party individuals who in return use the information to hack your emails, your accounts or even steal or damage personal information which was crucial to you.

This article has been researched and provides five steps that you can use to protect your personal information from possible hacks, damage or loss.

1. Private data protection

Did you know that the more information you share online the easier it is to get hacked? While you might think that your Facebook, Gmail or Yahoo account are safe and free from cybercrime just because you have a private password, it’s not. The moment you share your identity online, it becomes pretty easier for hackers to track and finally steal valuable information from you.

To stay safe, it’s advisable that you delete all useful personal data from your social media sites. Revealing simple information such as birthdays, mothers maiden names and pet names can lead to unscrupulous people gaining access to your accounts through recover methods.

Secondly, keep your social media account barren by deleting your date of birth, email address, and phone numbers. Remember, the more information hackers get about you, the easier it is for them to reach you.

Finally, consider adjusting your privacy settings. Here, you need to change your privacy settings in all your social media account to only allow a few trusted friends and family members access your personal information. Oversharing of information is very dangerous and in many cases, it leads to home break-ins by criminals who discover that you’re not around.

2. Use a secure wireless connection

We all love free internet but did you ever think of how risky it is especially when you don’t have strong passwords and firewalls on your device? A free Wi-Fi network will give you access to information online but imagine what would happen if there was an experienced hacker nearby. All your secret files will definitely be accessed, stolen or even be used against you.

Therefore, to protect your personal information online, it’s wise to avoid using unsecured public networks. On the other hand, if you own a router, it’s advisable that you use strong passwords that are hard to guess. To guarantee data protection from hacker cyber-security, it’s advisable that you avoid connecting your PC or Android device to unsecured public networks.

3. Use two-factor authentication and check for encryption

Two-factor authentication is one of the best ways of securing personal information from potential hackers. When logging in to your social media sites, a special code is sent to your device via text or generated by a smartphone app. Although the process is time-consuming, it offers an authentic way of securing your personal information from possible cybercrime.

Apart from the two-factor authentication, it’s advisable that you look for encryption every time you visit a website. The reason why most people end up losing funds, crucial data or personal information is because they share their information on unsecured websites. Before sharing your credit card information or making online transactions always ensure that the website has a security lock symbol at the top left and an extra “s” symbol at the end of http (https) in the address bar.

4. Strong passwords

The most common way of protecting your online identity from possible cybercrime is by creating strong passwords. For even more added security, it’s advisable to create long passwords with a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols. Some people might find it easy but imagine creating a couple of passwords for different social media accounts—of course, it will be difficult to remember all the passwords.

Password manager apps have come to the rescue to help you remember all the passwords you create for all your different sites. With third-party trusted apps such as LastPass and 1Password, managing your passwords will now be easy and fun. For more information check out our article – How to make a strong password for 2018

5. Beware of phishing sites

Phishing websites masquerade as genuine websites and attempt to steal your information by having you enter it as you normal would. This trick is used by the majority of cybercriminals to access things such as your internet banking, e-commerce accounts and social media accounts. To stay safe, always double-check the websites you log into, avoid sharing your email address to unknown internet users, and avoid money offers, job opportunities, and donation requests from strange or unfamiliar senders.

Other tips to protect your personal information online

Apart from the above steps, there are many other ways through which you can protect your personal information from possible hacking. Some of these steps include; scanning your PC for possible malware, avoiding taking part in online quizzes, utilising private browsing, as well as keeping all your online activities as private as possible. By doing this, you’ll not only secure your personal information but also protect your PC, Android or tablet devices from possible malware attack.

data / data protection from hacker / data storage / database protection / information / personal information / protect your personal information / secure information online / security

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How a national security threat label has reignited Indonesia’s LGBTQ debate

Advertisement Asia How a national security threat label has reignited Indonesia’s LGBTQ debate Indonesia last October classified the “spread of LGBTQ culture” as one of the country’s non-military threats. A series of developments thrust the provision into the public eye this month, sparking a debate. A street vendor walks past a banner reading ‘Indonesia

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How a national security threat label has reignited Indonesia’s LGBTQ debate

Indonesia last October classified the “spread of LGBTQ culture” as one of the country’s non-military threats. A series of developments thrust the provision into the public eye this month, sparking a debate.

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SINGAPORE: For more than eight months, a provision tucked away in an Indonesian presidential regulation on national defence drew little public attention.

In an appendix to Presidential Regulation No. 111/2025 on the General National Defence Policy signed in October last year, the government classified the “spread of LGBTQ culture” as one of the country’s non-military threats.

The clause, referring to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and queer culture, appeared alongside a range of other threats deemed capable of affecting national resilience. They included illegal trafficking, natural resource theft, terrorism, atheism and radicalism.

A presidential regulation is a legally binding regulation published in the State Gazette, while General National Defence Policy documents are highly technical and usually attract little public attention outside government and defence circles.

But a series of developments thrust the provision into the public eye this month, sparking a debate on the place of LGBTQ issues in state policy and the extent to which social issues should be framed within Indonesia’s defence strategy.

The issue quickly spread beyond social media into mainstream Indonesian media with national outlets including Antara, Kumparan, and Tempo examining the regulation and prompting public responses from senior government officials.

Some observers and activists say the clause could heighten discrimination against LGBTQ individuals in society, even as Indonesian ministers have defended the regulation while saying the government has no intention of curtailing the fundamental rights of citizens.

“As Indonesian citizens, LGBTQ people are entitled to education, employment, healthcare and other public services without restrictions, segregation or discrimination,” Indonesia’s Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai told CNA in a phone interview.

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Indonesia’s Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai. (Photo courtesy of Human Rights Ministry)

But he added that Indonesian society is not ready to accept the LGBTQ community, even as the state remains obliged to respect, protect and fulfil every citizen’s rights to education, employment, healthcare and public services.

“The time has not yet come to formally recognise them as an official group because society is not yet ready to accept them,” he said.

HOW THE CLAUSE CAME TO PUBLIC ATTENTION

While it remains unclear what first drew widespread attention to the provision, it resurfaced amid a series of developments involving LGBTQ issues. One was a Pride Month-themed social media post in mid-June by Suara Mahasiswa, a student publication at the University of Indonesia.

The post had led to a heated online debate, with critics arguing it was inconsistent with Indonesia’s religious and social norms. They questioned why it invoked the Pancasila national ideology to defend the LGBTQ community. Pancasila comprises five principles: Belief in one God, civilised humanity, national unity, democracy and social justice.

The backlash prompted the university to publicly distance itself from the post and launch an internal review.

Then in late June, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) said it was preparing an academic paper and a draft bill to criminalise LGBTQ-related conduct for Parliament’s National Legislation Programme.

MUI deputy chairman Muhammad Cholil Nafis argued that moral appeals alone were no longer sufficient to curb what he described as the growing activities and campaign surrounding LGBTQ culture.

“If there are no legal penalties at all, it eventually becomes normal. We should not normalise it. Punishment helps people understand that it is not normal,” he said.

“Deviant activities, such as same-sex parties, are now increasingly being displayed openly in public without any sense of shame,” he added.

Scrutiny then shifted to the new regulation that had previously gone largely unnoticed.

The belated attention came as no surprise to Agus Wahyudi, head of the Inter-Religious Studies Programme at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta.

Documents such as the General National Defence Policy typically circulate within government bureaucracy and rarely become the subject of public debate, he said.

But a provision can take on political significance when a series of events – in this case, the Pride Month-themed social media post and the MUI’s planned bill – draws the public’s notice, said Agus.

“What changed was not necessarily the policy itself, but the public attention it attracted,” Agus said.

WHY WAS IT PLACED IN A NATIONAL DEFENCE DOCUMENT?

Asked whether the presidential regulation represented the first national policy to explicitly mention LGBTQ, human rights lawyer Asfinawati said Indonesia’s 2008 Pornography Law referred to “lesbian” and “homosexual” acts in its explanatory notes to a provision banning the production, distribution and sale of pornographic material.

It defined what the law described as “deviant sexual intercourse” for the purposes of pornography offences, rather than creating a standalone offence based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Presidential Regulation No. 111/2025 goes further by classifying the “spread of LGBTQ culture” itself as a non-military threat, argued Asfinawati, the former chair of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation.

“This regulation no longer links it to sexual conduct. Simply having a particular sexual orientation or gender identity is placed within a threat framework,” she said.

Experts have questioned whether a national defence framework was an appropriate instrument for addressing issues such as sexual orientation and gender identity.

In principle, national defence should focus on military threats, said Tangguh Chairil, a lecturer in security studies at the Department of International Relations at Binus University, Jakarta.

Indonesia, however, classifies threats into three categories: Military, non-military and hybrid. As a result, issues beyond the traditional defence sphere are increasingly viewed as national security issues.

“Because the definition is so broad, almost anything can be treated as a national security threat,” Tangguh told CNA.

Classifying LGBTQ culture as a non-military threat under a defence framework means the issue may be treated as a security concern requiring state attention and resources, he added.

“Issues that have been successfully securitised tend to receive greater attention than others,” he said.

Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Coordinating Minister for Legal Affairs, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections, told news outlet Tempo on Jul 9 that “non-military threat” was used to categorise risks against national resilience.

In the socio-cultural context, “resilience” refers to values, ethics, character of the younger generation, families, digital space, and social cohesion, he said.

“What the government perceives as a threat is the campaign, propaganda, and dissemination of LGBT behaviour aimed at altering the values that align with the nation’s culture and morality,” he added.

Indonesia’s Chief Minister for Law and Human Rights, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, speaks as Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke, listens during a press conference following their meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, December 3, 2024. (REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan)

Asfinawati said the regulation cannot serve as the legal basis for introducing new criminal provisions or for regional governments to impose criminal sanctions unless authorised by law.

Under Indonesian law, a person’s sexual orientation as well as consensual same-sex relations between adults are not, by themselves, criminal offences. The exception is Aceh province, which implements Islamic crimina

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Published 5 days ago in 25th July 2026

Nigeria: UNICEF chief urges child protection amid security, humanitarian crises

Violence in Nigeria

The head of the U.N. children’s agency visited northwestern Nigeria on Friday as conflict, poverty and rising food insecurity leave millions of children in the region in need of aid.

Catherine Russell, executive director of UNICEF, toured the state of Sokoto, where the agency is seeking to draw attention to worsening humanitarian challenges facing children.

She met with state officials and visited UNICEF-supported programs aimed at improving the health of both mothers and children and protecting vulnerable youngsters.

“We have to make sure that children are protected in these conflicts,” she said.

“That their healthcare is protected, that their food is protected, that their education is protected. Children can’t waste years of their life because conflicts are going on.”

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