so these are some strategies to safely use windows 7 online now and in the future
keep your browser updated browsers do not automatically update like some software does
check your browser settings in whatever browser you choose there are settings for privacy
and security we want to look through these settings and adjust them to be more cautious
and restrictive let's start with edge and highlight a few points of interest
starting with the strict setting for tracking prevention
the tracking prevention feature in microsoft edge protects users from online tracking
by restricting the ability of trackers to access browser-based storage as well as the network
websites use trackers to collect info about your browsing some trackers collect and send your info
to sites you haven't visited the strict setting blocks a majority of trackers for all sites
next we want to toggle on send do not track requests
and toggle off allow sites to check if you have payment methods saved
under use secure dns to specify how to look up the network address for websites
select choose a service provider and pick a security focus dns provider like cloudflare or
enter your own preferred provider
from here we want to toggle on enhance your security on the web and set it to strict
now let's take a look at the settings for google chrome
under privacy and security click on security under safe browsing select enhanced protection
then scroll down to the advanced section toggle on always use secured connection and use secure dns
pick custom and select a security focus dns provider like cloudflare
or enter your own preferred provider
then we want to switch to cookies and other site data
and toggle on send a do not track request with your browsing traffic
moving on to firefox in the settings menu click on privacy and security
under enhanced tracking protection select strict under send websites a do not track
signal that you don't want to be tracked select always
now to switch to the general tab scroll to the very bottom under network settings click
on the settings button scroll to the bottom of the next window and mark enable dns over https
pick a security focus dns provider like cloudflare or enter your own preferred provider
next we need to talk about ads more specifically blocking them edge has many options available
for ad blockers for demonstration we can use adblock plus you may notice after adding the
extension that websites don't have as many ads on them but that's just on the surface
adblock plus has some additional settings that are worth taking a look through under the general tab
mark block additional tracking block push notifications and block social media icon tracking
then scroll down to the acceptable ads section
this is personal preference showing acceptable ads allows ads to play on
youtube so your favorite creators can make a few extra dollars when you watch their videos
now to switch to the advanced tab in the filter lists section you can add additional lists
there are some great filter lists available from adblockplus.org
like anti-circumvention malware protection notification blocking and more
in the same vein as ad blocking and security there is a tool called spybot search and destroy
this has a feature named browser immunization the process has a cool
progress bar and really feels like something happened that makes you a little safer online
what it does is add entries to the windows hosts file which effectively
blocks communication to those domains you can manually add entries to the hosts file as well
browsers have a tendency to ask if you would like to save user names and passwords when
you sign into a website the built-in password managers are lacking in a number of ways but
the idea is an excellent one there are third-party tools like keepass that can manage your passwords
it even has a feature that can generate new passwords for you at various strengths and lengths
nobody likes to key in passwords and the average user has over 100
passwords in use using a password manager is a must if you want to stay safe online
use two-factor authentication for any service that offers it turn on two-factor authentication yes
it is an additional step when you sign in but it's well worth the inconvenience
especially if you still use windows 7. that extra step can be the difference between safe and sorry
i would be remiss if i didn't mention virtual private networks
i'm sure you've seen many and various sponsored ads for vpns like this one browsing the internet
can be risky business so why don't you protect yourself and browse anonymously with a hidden ip
the bottom line is that it would be safer to use a vpn than not
these are the strategies for how to stay safe online
using windows 7 in 2022 and beyond thanks for stopping by see you next video
now