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The Short Version: Online dating brings greater accessibility to singles, but that freedom to mingle often comes at the cost of publicizing personal information. Since their founding in 1988, Trend Micro has innovated software solutions to protect the privacy of consumers and businesses on the web. Now you can exchange information over the Internet with confidence, knowing these experienced security experts will block any malicious links, apps, and spam that come your way. From a password manager to 24/7 threat detection, Trend Micro’s product features proactively defend people from cyberattacks so online daters can flirt safely on the web.
Dating websites are places of unique vulnerability. You’re putting yourself out there to a stranger, sometimes baring your heart over the Internet, and you never know if that person’s going to return your interest or give you the silent treatment. To make a meaningful connection, you have to be emotionally vulnerable to others — but you should take precautions to ensure you aren’t also vulnerable to cyberattack.
When a dating site is compromised, your personal information could be at risk. In 2016, over 400 million singles were left exposed when AdultFriendFinder was hacked. That’s a position no one wants to be in.
So, our dating experts recommend that you protect yourself before signing up for online dating, just to cover all your bases. Trend Micro’s consumer-friendly products automatically block attempts to steal information from your desktop or mobile device and provide added security to your digital accounts. A market leader in cybersecurty solutions, the company endeavors to keep people safe from malicious forces on the web.
Founded in 1988, Trend Micro pioneered global security on the web for consumers as well as businesses in the earliest days of the Internet. To this day, thousands of threat researchers keep tabs on cybersecurity issues around the world and continually update their technology to offer protections on multiple devices. Using Trend Micro Smart Protection Network™ technology, the company blocks more than 250 million threats every day.
Trend Micro also pioneers social programs in communities around the world — from charitable donations for disaster relief funds to educational programs for children and families. Since 2008, the company has budgeted 1% of the previous year’s profits to fund Global Citizenship programs like their Home Building program.
“We’re all social beings, and we want to communicate, but some people are abusing the trust factor,” said Jon Clay, Director of Global Threat Communications for Trend Micro. “Any information a cyber criminal can get about you is fodder for them to wreak all kinds of mischief, from identity theft to extortion.”
Trend Micro provides cost-efficient tools to protect your devices while you browse online for a date. Anyone can download a free antivirus trial for premium software to shield up to five devices at once. From blocking dangerous websites to ensuring total privacy on social media, these products represent the most up-to-date safety technology available on the web.
“We’re regularly finding phishing sites and blocking them for our customers,” Jon explained. “That’s critical, to have that technology in place, because more and more criminals are using legitimate websites to infect other people.”
With operations in six continents around the world, the Trend Micro team combs through the Internet to stay one step ahead of the cyber criminals. Jon, who’s been with the company for more than 20 years, described the office as driven by a moral imperative to help and protect people. This team of over 5,000 employees unite behind a common effort to map out the online threat landscape.
Trend Micro’s time-tested security solutions safeguard personal information with simple troubleshooting tools for any device. A security scan on your mobile device, for instance, automatically removes apps with privacy concerns and blocks malware before it’s installed. From anti-spam filtration to a social network privacy shield, these protections make sure you have the proper systems in place to keep bad people out and your personal details in.
When you’ve got active dating profiles on more than one site, it can be difficult to keep them all straight. The easiest thing to do is re-use your profile name, password, and even personal bio as you try out one dating site after another, but this could cause problems for you down the road.
First off, it makes your online identity easier to look up and trace, so clever singles will know you’re playing the online dating field. Secondly, hackers often take advantage of password re-usage, gaining access to multiple website accounts by breaching the data of just one site. If you happen to use the same easy-to-remember password for your dating profile and your bank account, that could spell trouble really quickly.
Trend Micro’s Password Manager product keeps your passwords secure across all sites. With this software, there’s no need to leave yourself vulnerable to hackers by using the same password over and over. Instead, free members and paid subscribers can store sensitive information, like passwords, more securely in a single interface. The software will even generate difficult-to-guess passwords for you to use — and remember them for you!
“Using post-it-notes to remember your passwords can be a painful process,” Jon said. “Password Manager makes it much easier. The program will ask for your Golden Password and then log in to any of your accounts for you, so it’s a great handy tool for online dating.”
The Password Manager comes as a feature of the Maximum Security product, or it can be purchased separately.
Beyond their easy-to-use tools, Trend Micro aims to protect people by raising awareness about the risks of the Internet and what people can do to arm against cyber threats. Every year, the company puts on a video contest called “What’s Your Story” and awards $10,000 each to the individual and school that submits the best online safety video.
The team takes your security seriously, and Jon offered us some valuable tips just for online daters. “You want to take precautions,” he said. “You can protect yourself by doing your due diligence to see if people are who they say they are.”
Before you get serious and start dreaming up first-date ideas, make sure who you’re talking to is legit. You can check up on a date prospect’s online footprint with ease by simply Googling his or her profile name (or real name if you have it). The results sometimes show you social media profiles, news articles, or even a picture or two.
It’s also important to do a search for yourself so you’re aware of what people on the Internet can find out about you. For example, some guys searching for me by name might make the incorrect assumption that I’m a blond professional soccer player when, in fact, my soccer career was cut short when I was deemed unfit for my high school’s junior varsity team.
Online daters should be careful what they reveal to strangers, and Jon suggests only posting “the bare minimum” required by the site. That way you can personally filter who knows what. If someone wants more information, they can get it from you instead of from your profile.
“Don’t put down your address or your Social Security number,” Jon said, “and just be cautious about who you’re interacting with.”
On their website, Trend Micro offers a wealth of guidance to consumers on how to behave safely on desktops, mobile devices, and mobile banking. Anyone curious can read up on the site’s downloadable Digital Life E-Guides or their threat encyclopedia to learn more about what cyber threats are out there, what you can do to avoid them, and what Trend Micro can do to help.
In terms of online dating, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there — you can easily lessen the risk by downloading security solutions for a year-long subscription or a trial period. When you log in with these added protections, you’ll only attract dates, not cyber criminals.
Trend Micro is a bastion of technological support for consumers and businesses on the web. Their user-friendly tools block harmful links, apps, malware, and other threats to your desktop or mobile device.
Now when you set up your dating profile, you can feel secure knowing the Trend Micro team is working hard to ensure your personal information doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. With security solutions and educational resources, the company empowers people to take reasonable measures to shield themselves against cyber threats.
“As a good digital citizen, you need to be aware of what’s going on in your digital life,” Jon said, “because what you do there can actually affect your real life here if you’re not careful.”
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