Keeping Safe Online this Festive Season

Earlier this month the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy launched their Cyber Security Festive Season Awareness Initiative, which Microsoft is proud to be supporting.

With the holidays just around the corner it is important that people are taking measures to keep themselves and their children safe online. The initiative encourages people to make sure they are adopting safe internet practices to help avoid falling victim to threats such as online scammers, phishing attempts and viruses and malware. There is also some fantastic advice on how to make sure you’re staying safe while shopping online and for helping to protect children when they are using the Internet.

It is advisable to make sure that you have installed and updated security software on your PC as this will help protect you against online threats. If you’re not running any anti-virus software on your machine, one option is to download Microsoft Security Essentials for free* which will help protect you from viruses, spyware and malware.

* Your PC must run genuine Windows to install Microsoft Security Essential and download fees and charges may apply as set by your internet service provider.

Stuart Strathdee, Chief Security Advisor