WEB DEVELOPMENT

Neema Rajabu
MBEYA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 0769129676

Neema Rajabu
 INTRODUCTION TO INTERNET AND WEB

Topic One

Contents
1. Understanding the Web and the Internet: ......................................................................... 1
a. Internet .......................................................................................................................... 1
i) Internet History ......................................................................................................... 2
ii) How do you connect to the Internet? ....................................................................... 5
iii) Why is the Internet so popular? .............................................................................. 6
b. The Web/WWW: .......................................................................................................... 6
i) Web page ................................................................................................................... 7
ii) Website ..................................................................................................................... 7
c. WEB Browsers............................................................................................................ 11
d. Clients and servers ...................................................................................................... 11
e. Navigate with DNS and IP addresses ......................................................................... 13
f. Databases ..................................................................................................................... 14
g. Understand mobile devices as part of the internet ...................................................... 15
h. Stay safe online ........................................................................................................... 16

1. Understanding the Web and the Internet:

a. Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard
Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of

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networks that consists of millions of private, public academic, business, and government
networks.
These computers are connected by phone lines, fiber optic lines, coaxial cable, satellites, and
wireless connections.
When you log on to the Internet you are given access to many of the other computers that are
connected around the world.

i) Internet History

The first seeds of the internet were sown by several computer scientists at institutions primarily
in the United States in the 1960s. They envisioned something that, at the time, must’ve seemed
far-fetched and impossible to fully visualize: a network of machines that could communicate
with one another. It would have been even more difficult to imagine a network such that
geographic distance would not limit researchers’ access to information stored on other
machines around the world.
As one of the prominent researchers, Robert Taylor, explained, he had three different
connections terminals- each of which was linked to a different computer mile away. In his
words:
"Oh man! It's obvious what to do: If you have these three terminals, there ought to be one
terminal that goes anywhere you want to go.”

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Robert Taylor, one of the prominent American Internet pioneers

There was also a tangential interest in the project from the US military, who at the time was
very interested in ways that information could be preserved and still get from point A to point
B in case of nuclear attack. Both civilian and military computer scientists were interested in
what this network, known as ARPAnet, could allow.

The internet may have billions of connections at the moment, but the first version of the
“internet’ was actually composed of just four computers: one at UCLA, one at Stanford, one at
UCSB, and one in Utah. Eventually, more computers joined the network, and a router in
Norway became the first connection to this network outside the US, thanks to a satellite link.

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A map of the four connected computers when the first ARPANET message was sent. Image
Source: VOX

From these first supercomputer projects came other projects by computer scientists such as
Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn. They created a protocol (a way of exchanging data) called TCP/IP,
which you needn't understand for the purposes of this course. The most important thing to
remember is that the way we live the internet today is a result of a series of inventions. It didn't
all come to be at once!
ARPANET: (Advanced Research Projects Agency) was created by the US Defense Dpt. In
1969.
September 2, 1969: First time two computers communicated with each other.
Oct 29, 1969: Message sent from computer to computer in different locations.
1971: The first email was sent.
Jan 1, 1983: ARPANET adopted the standard TCP/IP protocol.
March 1989: Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web.
April 22, 1993: Mosaic became the first web browser.

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ii) How do you connect to the Internet?

Every tiny piece of data that travels around the internet is made up of a tiny building block
called a bit. A bit can be either 1 or 0, otherwise known as binary. The Internet has two major
components: network protocols and hardware. The protocols, such as the TCP/IP suite,
present sets of rules that devices must follow in order to complete tasks. Without this common
collection of rules, machines would not be able to communicate. The protocols are also
responsible for translating the alphabetic text of a message into electronic signals that can be
transmitted over the Internet, and then back again into legible, alphabetic text.

Hardware, the second major component of the Internet, includes everything from the computer
or smartphone that is used to access the Internet to the cables that carry information from one
device to another. Additional types of hardware include satellites, radios, cell phone towers,
routers and servers. These various types of hardware are the connections within the network.
Devices such as computers, smartphones and laptops are end points, or clients, while the
machines that store the information are the servers. The transmission lines that exchange the
data can either be wireless signals from satellites or 4G and cell phone towers, or physical lines,
such as cables and fiber optics.
Internet Service Provider (ISP): Allows the user access to the Internet through their server.
Some examples: AfricaOnline, telephone companies, or cable companies. To connect to an
Internet server, you will need a computer, modem, and a telephone line. In most areas, cable
modems or DSL are available for high-speed access to the Internet.

Access: A way to get online.

Dial up
Cable
DSL
Satellite
WiFi

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iii) Why is the Internet so popular?

Communication
Shopping
Research
Entertainment
Internet Services
World Wide Web (WWW): A multimedia interface of resources available on the internet
File Transfer Protocol (FTP): An Internet service for transferring files
Usenet: A discussion system accessible through the Internet
Internet Relay Chat (IRC): An Internet service that enables you to join chat groups and get into
real-time, text based conversations
Instant Messaging systems: Enables the user to have private online chat in real-time, text based
conversations
Internet Telephony: Real-time voice and video. This requires appropriate hardware. Electronic
mail

b. The Web/WWW:

The World Wide Web, abbreviated as WWW or commonly known as the web, is a system
of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. Or is a networked information
system that provides a simple way of browsing different types (text, pictures, video, audio,
etc.) of information on the internet using hyperlinks. The web is a part of the internet, even
though people often use the two terms interchangeably. The internet is a group of
computers, whereas the web is a group of machines and their documents. It was invented
in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee, who was a computer scientist at the European Organization
for Nuclear Research.
What Makes the Web Work?
The Web relies on these mechanisms:
- Protocols - set of standards used to access resources via the Web
- Universal Resource Locator (URL) - uniform naming scheme for Internet resources
- HTML - Document formatting language used to design most web pages
- CGI - Common Gateway Interface

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- Servlet - Application run by a server connected to the WWW. It is one of the most popular
avenues for Java development today.

i) Web page

A web page is an electronic document that typically contains several types of information
accessible via the World Wide Web. It is similar to a Microsoft Word document you might
have saved on your computer, but on a web page, the document is usually presented in a
more stylistic way. These web pages are passed around the web using a protocol (or a set
of rules defining communication) called HTTP: hypertext transfer protocol. Web pages
include text, images, and much more, but the major difference between web pages and
traditional text documents is that web pages are written in a different language that is
responsible for structure and formatting. This language is called HTML. We'll learn more
about HTML later in the course.

ii) Website

A website is a collection of related web pages of a certain individual, group, or organization.

With a web browser, one can view web pages that may contain text, images, videos, and other
multimedia and navigate between them via hyperlinks.
Types of Website Content

- Static Web Site

- Dynamic Web Site
Static Website

A static web page (sometimes called a flat page) is a web page that is delivered to the user
exactly as stored. It displays the same information for all users, from all contexts, subject to
modern capabilities of a web server to negotiate content-type or language of the document
where such versions are available and the server is configured to do so.
Static web pages are often HTML documents stored as files in the file system and made
available by the web server over HTTP. However, loose interpretations of the term could
include web pages stored in a database, and could even include pages formatted using a
template and served through an application server, as long as the page served is unchanging
and presented essentially as stored.

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Static Web pages are very simple in layout and informative in context. Creation of static
website content requires great level of technical expertise and if a site owner is intended to
create static web pages, they must be very clear with their ideas of creating such pages since
they need to hire a web designer.
Advantages
- No programming skills are required to create a static page.
- Inherently publicly cacheable (i.e. a cached copy can be shown to anyone).
- No particular hosting requirements are necessary.
- Can be viewed directly by a web browser without needing a web server or application
server, for example directly from a CDROM or USB Drive.
Disadvantages
- Any personalization or interactivity has to run client-side (ie. In the browser), which is
restricting.
- Maintaining large numbers of static pages as files can be impractical without automated
tools.
Application areas of Static Website:
- Need of Static web pages arise in the following cases.
- Changes to web content is infrequent
- List of products / services offered is limited Simple e-mail based ordering system should
suffice
- No advanced online ordering facility is required
- Features like order tracking, verifying availability of stock, online credit card transactions,
are not needed
- Web site not required to be connected to back-end system.

Dynamic Website
A dynamic web page is a kind of web page that has been prepared with fresh information
(content and/or layout), for each individual viewing.
It is not static because it changes with the time (ex. news content), the user (ex. preferences in
a login session), the user interaction (ex. web page game), the context (parametric
customization), or any combination of the foregoing.
Two types of dynamic web sites
- Client-side scripting and content creation

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- Server-side scripting and content creation

Client-side scripting and content creation

- Client-side scripting and content creation Using client-side scripting to change interface
behaviors within a specific web page, in response to mouse or keyboard actions or at
specified timing events. In this case the dynamic behavior occurs within the presentation.
- Such web pages use presentation technology called rich interfaced pages. Client-side
scripting languages like JavaScript or ActionScript, used for Dynamic HTML (DHTML)
and Flash technologies respectively, are frequently used to orchestrate media types (sound,
animations, changing text, etc.) of the presentation.
- The scripting also allows use of remote scripting, a technique by which the DHTML page
requests additional information from a server, using a hidden Frame, XMLHttpRequests,
or a Web service.
- The Client-side content is generated on the user's computer.
- The web browser retrieves a page from the server, then processes the code embedded in the
page (often written in JavaScript) and displays the retrieved page's content to the user.

Server-side scripting and content creation

- Using server-side scripting to change the supplied page source between pages, adjusting
the sequence or reload of the web pages or web content supplied to the browser.
- Server responses may be determined by such conditions as data in a posted HTML form,
parameters in the URL, the type of browser being used, the passage of time, or a database
or server state.
- Such web pages are often created with the help of serverside languages such as PHP, Perl,
ASP, ASP.NET, JSP,ColdFusion and other languages.
- These server-side languages typically use the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) to produce
dynamic web pages. These kinds of pages can also use, on the client-side, the first kind
(DHTML, etc.).
- Application areas of Dynamic Website Dynamic web page is required when following
necessities arise:
- Need to change main pages more frequently to encourage clients to return to site.
- Long list of products / services offered that are also subject to up gradation
- Introducing sales promotion schemes from time to time

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- Need for more sophisticated ordering system with a wide variety of functions -
Tracking and offering personalized services to clients.
- Facility to connect website to the existing back-end system
The fundamental difference between a static website and a dynamic website is a static website
is no more than an information sheet spelling out the products and services while a dynamic
website has wider functions like engaging and gradually leading the client to online ordering.
But both static web site design and dynamic websites design can be designed for search engine
optimization. If the purpose is only to furnish information, then a static website should suffice.
Dynamic website is absolutely necessary for e-commerce and online ordering.

Web Technologies

- HTML, which stands for Hypertext Markup Language, is the predominant markup
language for web pages. It is written in the form of HTML elements consisting of "tags"
surrounded by angle brackets within the web page content.
- It allows images and objects to be embedded and can be used to create interactive forms. It
provides a means to create structured documents by denoting structural semantics for text
such as headings, paragraphs, lists, links, quotes and other items. It can embed scripts in
languages such as JavaScript which affect the behavior of HTML web pages.
- HTML can also be used to include Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to define the appearance
and layout of text and other material. The W3C, maintainer of both HTML and CSS
standards, encourages the use of CSS over explicit presentational markup.

Introduction to Web Servers

WEB Servers: To view and browse pages on the Web, all you need is a web browser. To
publish pages on the Web, you need a web server. A web server is the program that runs on a
computer and is responsible for replying to web browser requests for files.
You need a web server to publish documents on the Web. The documents can be for example
static Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) files, image files or various script files, such as
Common Gateway Interface (CGI), Javascript or Perl files. The communication between
clients and server is based on the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The browser then
formats the information it got from the server. Server accepts the connection, sends the contents

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of the requested files and then closes. Example of web servers are, Apache HTTP Server,
Internet Information Services (IIS), Nginx and LiteSpeed.

c. WEB Browsers

A web browser is the program you use to view pages and navigate the World Wide Web. A
wide array of web browsers is available for just about every platform you can imagine.
Microsoft Internet Explorer, for example, is included with Windows and Safari is included with
Mac OS X. Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Netscape Navigator, and Opera are all available
for free.
What the Browser Does The core purpose of a web browser is to connect to web servers,
request documents, and then properly format and display those documents. Web browsers can
also display files on your local computer, download files that are not meant to be displayed.
Each web page is a file written in a language called the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
that includes the text of the page, a description of its structure, and links to other documents,
images, or other media.

d. Clients and servers

On the web, we have two parties: the client and the server. These words are likely familiar to
you, but probably in a more common context, like a restaurant, for example.
In a restaurant, the client makes a request for a specific dish, and the server, or
waiter/waitress, responds to that request by retrieving that specific dish and delivering it
back to the client. In technical language, these two interactions are called the request and
the response, and this exchange is the basis of the web’s client-server relationship.
Clients
On the web, the client is the machine that requests the web page. For example, when I type
"must.ac.tz" into my web browser’s URL bar at the top of the window, my computer is the
client, and " must.ac.tz " is the web page that I am requesting. The URL is the human
readable name given to a file at a specific location on the web.
Servers
The server is the machine located elsewhere that has that requested file saved inside, and
it responds to my request by delivering that file to my computer. A "server", as the name
would lead you to believe, is very literally made to serve its clients. This is the device that

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will send me the web page for " must.ac.tz " upon my browser's request. You may be
familiar with opening documents on your computer. You can think of the client-server
exchange as simply opening a file from a different computer.

Those computers can live anywhere in the world, depending on where the site owner or
the site's company has bought servers. If I open my browser and type
https://www.airbnb.com, my browser sends a request out onto the web for Airbnb, and a
server somewhere sends the Airbnb's webpage back to me. That server could be in
Virginia, China, etc; it all depends where I am and where Airbnb themselves have servers
located.

Your browser (again, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, etc) has been waiting for a
response this whole time, and once it receives the response from the server, it displays the
web page that the server has sent to you.

Client/Server Interaction

Request File
Client
Display File

Send File

Server

Now that you understand how client requests and server responses work, let’s check out how
information gets from one place to another on the web without getting lost!

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e. Navigate with DNS and IP addresses

A helpful hint might be to think about how you navigate in real life!
Consider a scenario where you meet up with your friends at university campus. If you know
your campus location you’ll never say, “Let’s meet at P. O. Box 131, Cocacola Road, Mbeya.”
You’ll say, “Let’s meet at campus!” Campus is a lot easier to remember than a physical address.
This is true on the web as well.

Protocols: In computing, a protocol is a set of rules which is used by computers to

communicate with each other across a network. A protocol is a convention or standard that
controls or enables the connection, communication, and data transfer between computing
endpoints.

IP Addresses
Behind the scenes, each machine on the internet has an identifier called an IP (Internet Protocol)
address. It’s a series of numbers that represent the computer itself. You know how your house
has a numeric address, like 5 0 North 5th Street?

Your computer also has a numeric address, except it is structured as 4 numbers separated by
dots, like 12.36.102.71, for example. Every website also has an IP address! For example, here’s
MUST (Mbeya University of Science and Technology) IP address: 41.59.86.234.
If you type "IP" into a Google search, it will display your computer's public IP address.

Domain Name System

But as you know, to get to Mbeya University of Science and Technology website, you don’t
enter the IP address; you just tell your browser to go to must.ac.tz.
This is the most important complement to IP addresses: the DNS. DNS stands for Domain
Name System, and it is a global system that takes and translates human-readable names like
“must.ac.tz” to specific IP addresses.

When your computer's browser sends the request for the page must.ac.tz, the browser searches
behind the scenes for the IP address associated with must.ac.tz. Once the matching IP address
is found, your request is then sent off to the correct place for a response.

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Without the DNS lookup process, we’d have to rely on entering IP addresses in order to get to
our favorite websites, which is not very practical. Google.com is much easier to remember,
than, say, 216.58.223.78. Moreover, every website has at least one IP address associated with
it.
By accessing pages on the web using human-readable URLs instead of IP addresses, you get
to have your cake and eat it too, thanks to DNS. You never end up lost on the web, and you
don’t have to worry about getting directions to your favorite sites!

f. Databases
The client-server relationship is pretty straightforward. When you request a certain website
from your browser, a server somewhere sends it back to you. DNS (Domain Name System)
allows you to type a website address like https://google.com instead of a full IP address,
which makes surfing the web much easier!
However, we're missing one important piece of the puzzle. You know how on some
websites, you create an account with an email address, and maybe you store other data on
there, like a description or image of yourself for a profile. Where is this information stored?
We're talking about storing data, so the logical name for the place it gets saved is called a
database.
A database is an organized collection of data, so that it can be easily accessed and managed.
Databases also live on servers. Here's how they fit into the overall equation we have discussed
so far.
- Clients request a website, and that request is sent to a server.
- If there is stored user data in a database somewhere to send back in the web page, the
server will make its own request to a database! The database responds to the server with
the requested information.
- The server responds to the client with all of that.
The language in which servers make requests for data from databases is called SQL (Structured
Query Language). Here's an example of SQL.
SELECT * FROM users WHERE last_name=Rajabu;
This will cause the database to return all users where the stored last name is Rajabu.

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g. Understand mobile devices as part of the internet

Now that you have a complete picture of how clients, servers, and databases fit together to
send requests and responses on the web, let's check out different devices that can access
the internet.
Many types of devices can access the internet: your computer, gaming console, tablet, cars,
planes, and even your smart TV. However, only specific devices have the capability of
displaying native apps and web apps, and those are the devices that we will be covering in
this lesson.

Native apps
A native app is an application that has been written for a specific platform, such as Google
Play/Android or iOS, and is used mainly by that platform’s corresponding devices. The main
Google Play devices are Android devices, and the main iOS devices are iPhones.
What’s the point of building an app for just one platform? Since native apps are designed
with a certain operating system in mind, they are able take advantage of the specific
features and software unique to that device. For example, an iOS app may make use of the
iPhone’s iMessage feature, which is a functionality that Google’s Androids do not possess.
Using these types of device-specific features allows for a developer to improve the user
experience and user interface of the application.

So, what about the other platforms? At the moment, native apps for different platforms
are written using different software, so after writing an iOS app, for example, it will take
some work (and possibly some extra developers) to recreate the same app in an Android
version. Now, let’s cover some of the differences between native apps and web apps.

Web apps
Web apps are client-server applications that run in a web browser (Google Chrome,
Internet Explorer, etc.), which we learned about earlier in the client-server chapter. Unlike
native apps, web apps can be rendered on various platforms, so long as those platforms
have web browser capability- so you can use the same web app on an iPhone, Android,
Computer, Smart TV, and many other devices without having to rewrite the source code.
This is a major trade-off between native apps and web apps:

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What native apps lack in versatility, they gain in a more customized user experience, and what
web apps lack in customizability, they gain in versatility.
Once you know the difference between the two types of applications, you are better able
to choose which type of app best fits your application's objectives. Now, how can the same
web app work on so many different devices?
Responsive sites
Many websites were made before the mobile revolution, and thus, had only one static
version of the site available for quite some time. This meant that if you viewed the web
page on your computer, it would likely work as intended, but if you viewed the same page
on your phone or tablet, you would see that parts are missing, the words are tiny, the
pictures don’t load, or any number of the other problems associated with web pages on
mobile devices. This is where responsive web design comes in.
Responsive web sites use a “fluid grid” idea, such that the content on the web page adjusts
based on the client’s screen resolution. “Content is like water” is a common saying in
responsive web design. Just like water takes the form of its container, a responsive website
will situate itself according to the form of the device it is being displayed on. The page
content will very literally respond to the dimensions of the browser being used.
You can test a web page’s responsiveness by opening a webpage in your computer’s
browser (just like MUST website!) and adjusting the size of your window. If the page is
responsive, it will reformat the content to match the size of your browser’s window. If not,
content may be hidden from view or displayed incorrectly.

h. Stay safe online

We have learned so far in this course that the internet is a very useful tool that can make
our lives much easier, if used correctly. With that being said, there are a number of ways
that the internet can be dangerous, and here are some tips for staying safe on the internet.
Hackers
The term “hackers” is a catch-all term nowadays for people who possess advanced
technical knowledge of computers and computer systems. Many hackers are
wellintentioned, such as those employed to detect security issues in company websites, or
even those who hack for social activism. When most people think of hackers, what comes
to mind is the idea of some person sitting in a dark room trying to break into the bank
accounts of unsuspecting citizens and funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars into their

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accounts without a trace, or similarly, those who use their skills to breach the networks of
corporations and governments for criminal purposes. While both types exist, the latter is
the type of hacker that we will learn to better protect ourselves from in this chapter.
Viruses
Installing firewalls, Antivirus Software, and Anti-Spyware software are a few ways that
you can protect your computer from malicious hackers. While these softwares can provide
the necessary security for keeping your computer safe, you should still be aware of the
types of files that you download and the links that you click on.
Passwords
Many of you probably have a social media account, or have signed up as a student (much
like on e-learning platform) of some web service. Most of these services require you to
have a password that gives you (and only you) access to your account. If you choose a
password that can be guessed easily, such as “password1234”, for example, someone
looking to access your account can probably guess, or use a simple software to guess, your
password and access your account.

“Why would anyone want to access my accounts?”

Most of your accounts are of little interest to hackers- which is not to say that you should
use simpler passwords for sites that you feel are less important. Hackers usually target sites
with information that could be of use to them- such as access to your social network from
your facebook account, access to your private information from your email accounts, and
especially access to the money in your bank account. If you have a weak password and the
wrong person comes across your information, you could be in some real trouble.
How to protect yourself with a good password:
- Use different passwords.
If a hacker comes across one of your passwords and has access to one account, they might
try to use the same password to access any other accounts you have to see if they can get
more information. Use different passwords for each account you create, and use a password
manager application or another secure form of storage to keep track of all of your
passwords.
- Don’t use plain words
Software exists that can test entire dictionaries for your password, so a hacker can easily gain
access to your account if you've used a simple word as your password.

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- Make your password a sentence including special characters, different letter cases, and
numbers.
Using the first letter of each word in a sentence, such as “Never gonna give you up, never gonna
let you down” could translate to a strong password like this “ngGYu%NGlyD1987”.
The more complex your password is, the harder it is for a hacker to access your account.
- Use multi-factor authentication
Many web services now have an option to use a second or even third step to logging in. It
may send a text, email, or push notification to one of your devices for you to confirm that
it is you logging into your account.

You should NEVER share your password. Mistakes happen, information can be passed
along unintentionally, and the situation is best if you are the sole keeper of your
information.
Public information/services
You should never give out personal information, such as national identity numbers, account
numbers, passwords, addresses and other sensitive data to people that you aren’t familiar
with, as you might encounter in an online chat room or on social media. Secure websites
where you can enter this type of information will usually have a domain beginning with
“https” rather than the standard “http”. The “s” stands for “secure”, which means that the
information exchanged between your browser and the website are protected by encryption.
Additionally, be aware of your accounts when you use public computers, like those in
libraries or internet cafés. You can protect yourself in a few ways:
- Don’t allow websites to remember your information
This is okay to do on your personal computer or phone that only you have access to, but
never on a public computer. When you sign into accounts and allow websites to
“remember” your usernames and passwords on public computers, anyone who uses the
computer after you can log back into your account without even needing to know who you
are, your email, username, or even your password.
- Sign out of your accounts
The easiest way for someone to access your social media account is if you have left the
account signed in. Be sure to sign out of all of your accounts when using public computers.
- Clear the history, cache, and cookies

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You can go to Settings -> Advanced Settings -> Privacy and Security -> Clear Browsing
Data in most browsers to clear your session and ensure that your accounts do not have your
account information saved in the browser.
- Anonymous Features
Some browsers, like Google Chrome, have an anonymous window feature that allows you
to use the browser without storing your session. To ensure that your information is not
stored in the browser, all you have to do is close the window.

Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi is a technology that allows local devices to connect to the internet and the web
through radio waves. When using public Wi-Fi networks, many are safe and trustworthy,
but don’t let your desire for internet access compromise your personal security. Wi-Fi
networks are usually encrypted so that anyone monitoring the wireless traffic cannot see
the information exchanged between your devices and the wireless router. Though many
have this feature, some do not, and they are usually “open” networks. “Open”, in this case,
means that there is no Wi-Fi passphrase necessary to access the connection, and if this
network is unencrypted, a hacker can see which websites you are visiting and what you
submit through unprotected web forms. You can avoid being vulnerable to these types of
tactics by only using encrypted websites, like those with “https” in the domain, rather than
just “http”, and using secure Wi-Fi sources.
While on "open" public networks, accessing accounts with credit, bank, and any other
sensitive information puts you at greater risk for being targeted by a hacker and possibly
even having your identity stolen.

Permanence
The internet lasts forever. Be mindful of the things you post online, because while you can
delete things that you no longer want from your personal accounts or computers,
information and files cannot be deleted from the web, so anything you post online will still
be retrievable on the web.

Phishing
Phishing is when someone creates a false attempt, most commonly seen in emails, to steal
your personal information- national identity numbers, account numbers, passwords, and

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other sensitive data. Hopefully you wouldn’t just enter this information into a random
website that asks you for it, but the technique behind phishing attempts is to mimic a real
website, such as the website of your bank.
The hackers will have you enter your information into the false website, which will then
be sent to them and not to whomever you thought you were sending your information to.
The attempts are usually time sensitive and try to have you enter your information as
quickly as possible, as by saying something along the lines of, “If you do not confirm your
password and bank account numbers within 48 hours of receiving this email, your account
will be locked and inaccessible until we can verify that you are the owner.”
Do NOT enter your information if you receive a message like this. If you are unsure, you
should directly contact whichever service is being duplicated for more information.
Another common practice in phishing emails is to include a false link that has anchor text
for the familiar service. The text may say "yourbank.com", but the embedded link actually
takes you to the false website, which is probably looking to collect your personal
information. You should NEVER click a link if you do not know where it transfers to. You
can hover the mouse over the link in any email or on any web page, and in the bottom left
corner of your browser, you will see what website the link actually transfers to, versus the
text displayed in the email.

Stay safe and enjoy the wonders of the internet and the web!

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