PLAYING IT SAFE
Let’s talk about keeping ourselves safe – Personal Safety, Staying Safe in your home, Civil Defence, Cyber Security, Mobile Phone Security, Identity Theft, Scammers, Passwords and 2-Step Verification. Tips and ideas to help us stay safe.
PERSONAL SAFETY
Staying safe in your home
Personal safety is something all of us need to think about - being prepared in an emergency; feeling that your property is secure from theft or vandalism.
Ways to help keep yourself and your home safe include:
Elder Abuse
We all have the right to feel respected, safe and independent in our choices. If you are being abused (financially, socially, emotionally, physically or sexually) reach out for help.
Our information on identifying, preventing, identifying and reporting elder abuse
Fire safety
- Install reliable fire alarms. Most fire stations in New Zealand will come to your house, advise where to place the alarms, and provide assistance with installation if needed.
- Check your fire alarm battery regularly, e.g. at daylight saving change, and make sure the sound is loud enough to wake you up/
- Plan an escape route around your abilities. Whether it’s a fire or any other emergency, if you need to use a wheelchair or cane, make sure you can get to them quickly.
- Visit the NZ Fire and Emergency website for tips and facts about fire safety.
Civil defence and emergency safety
Health Safety
Reporting crimes
- If you want to report an urgent crime, call the police on 111.
- If it is not urgent call the new 105 number.
- For *urgent but not life-threatening driving incidents: Call 555 from a mobile phone
For incidents such as minor crashes (non-injury), continuous poor driving, traffic congestion, breakdowns and obstructions on the highway, call *555 from a mobile phone.
*555 is not intended to take the place of the 111 emergency number.
Always call 111 in an emergency. *555 calls are answered with less priority than 111 calls.
- If you have difficulty hearing or talking on the phone, you can register for the 111 TXT service.
To set up the 111 TXT Service on the NZ Police website
- For more information on reporting crimes visit the NZ Police website
ONLINE SAFETY AND SECURITY
Websites giving advice for using your devices safely
Social Media
Here are important tips to stay safe on social media:
- Use strong passwords and a different password for each of your social media accounts.
- Set up your security answers.
- If you have social media apps on your phone be sure to password protect your device.
- Be selective with friend requests.
- Click links with caution.
- Don’t give out any private information over the internet or through mobile phones about you, your family, friends or other people that you know.
- Only accept friend requests from people you actually know.
- Don’t engage or respond to trolling or abuse; report it to the provider.
- Don’t believe everything you read, make sure you know it’s coming from a reliable source.
- Don’t hide behind a computer screen. If you wouldn’t say it to their face, don’t say it at all. Be careful what you post on social media, the Internet does not have a delete key. Any comment or image you post online may stay online forever. There is no way to "take back" a remark you wish you hadn't made or get rid of an embarrassing selfie.
- Be careful who you meet online – they may not be who they claim to be, or even be real.
- Don't meet people you don't know in person.
- If you are suspicious of a website, carry out a web search to see if you can find out whether or not it is fraudulent.
- Guides for cyber-security and social media - cert.govt.nz
How to use privacy settings on social networks - netsafe.org.nz
Mobile phone security
Mobile phones store a wealth of your personal information and can provide access to online accounts Make sure you follow the advice for all of the above plus:
- Use the screen lock features of your phone - PIN, a swipe pattern, fingerprint ID, voice recognition.
- Back up your mobile data regularly.
- Be cautious of the mobile apps you install and what permissions they require.
- In case your phone is lost/stolen there are prevention solutions that can be put in place. Apps: ‘Find My Mobile’ (Android) or ‘Find My iPhone’ (iPhone) can help track your device.
- If it does go missing inform your mobile provider, they may be able to blacklist your device’s IMEI to stop it from being used on their network.
- If you've been doing regular backups, consider wiping your mobile remotely.
- Keeping your mobile phone safe - cert.govt.nz
How to keep your devices secure - Netsafe
Securing your mobile phone - consumer.org.nz
Online Safety Tips – Cyber Security
Cyber security is the protection of internet-connected systems. Technology alone will never be able to fully protect you, but there are ways to reduce the risks.
- Install and enable a firewall and anti-virus software.
- Don’t click on links within emails or open attachments that you weren’t expecting.
- Identify secure sites by looking for an address that starts with https: (the S stands for secure). They may also be marked by a padlock icon.
- Stay current with your operating system's updates and updates to applications you use.
- Keep Your Antivirus Program up to date - it can detect and remove most malware.
- Choose Strong Passwords or “Pass-phrases” - mix letters, numbers and special characters.
Use a password manager and implement 2-factor authentication for online accounts.
- Buy online from secure sites only if you need to provide credit card or bank account information. - Online Shopping Tips from Netsafe
- Practice Safe Browsing. Make sure your Internet connection is secure when you go online in a public place using a public Wi-Fi connection - Tips for Public Wi-Fi Hotspot Security - PCMag
- For further information on CyberSecurity go to:
CertNZ - CERT NZ
Stay Safe Online - National CyberSecurity Alliance
PCWorld Magazine - Articles on Security from PCWorld magazine
- To further improve your browsing safely you could use a secure VPN connection .
What is a VPN? A virtual private network (VPN) is software that runs on Windows, Mac, Android or iOS to protect your online privacy and to access blocked websites. Using your existing internet connection, you can use a VPN to mask your IP address, making your connection more secure and much less vulnerable to hackers. VPN enables a secure connection between your device and an Internet server that no one can monitor or access the data that you’re exchanging.
The Best VPNs for 2020 from stuff.co.nz
Top VPNs for Australia and New Zealand 2021 - PCWorld
- For more help with shopping and banking safely online check out July’s Coffee & Learn notes -
https://www.notion.so/silverthyme/Shopping-Online-088cb7063ec54682b221f6ebb098846b
Clear your cache
As web browsers save tiny files onto your computer when you visit websites, clearing your cache is highly recommended after you have finished browsing a site to help maintain the security of your personal browsing data. Taranaki Safe Families.org.nz Hide my visit
Identity theft and Crime
Identity theft - using the identity information of another person to pretend to be them. Your name, address, phone numbers, birthdate, bank account number, credit card number, passport, driver’s licence, or IRD number can be used to gain access to your financial accounts. More personal attacks can also happen, such as imposter social network profiles leading to online bullying or harassment.
Advice and support for victims of identity theft:
SCAMS