Whilst we are lucky to live in a part of the country with one of the lowest levels of crime in the country, it still exists. With the help of Norfolk Police we have produced guides on how you can help prevent becoming a victim of the more common crimes that occur in our area. Please see below for information about online safety or click on the links to find useful information and methods of preventing crime.
Online Crime
The Internet is a powerful and useful tool, but in the same way that you shouldn’t drive without wearing your seat belt or leave your front door unlocked, you shouldn’t venture online without taking some basic precautions.
Passwords:
- Make your passwords unique and do not use the same one for different accounts this should limit any security breaches.
- Protect your email by using a strong separate password. Having a strong password to protect your email means that if cyber criminals steal the password for one of your less important accounts, they can’t use it to access your email
- Use three random words to create a strong password. A good way to create a strong and memorable password is to use three random words. Numbers and symbols can still be used if needed, for example 3redhousemonkeys27!
- Be creative and use words memorable to you, so that people cannot guess your password. Your social media accounts can give away vital clues about yourself, so don’t use words such as your child’s name or favourite sports team which are easy for people to guess.
- If you have a lot of online accounts, it might be an idea to use a password manager for your least important ones. The National Cyber Security Centre has some excellent guidance on password managers which can be found here
Be Wary: Even if you know the source of an E-mail, tweet, online post or advertisement it could be infected. If something looks suspicious, delete it. Links in an email, tweets, posts and online advertising are often how cybercriminals try to steal your personal information.
Plug-Ins: Memory cards, USB’s, Flash Drives and any other external devices that you connect to could be infected. Always use your security software to scan them before you use them.
Keep your security software up-to-date: There are a number of commercial security protection packages available but it is important to ensure they are kept current as new computer viruses; malware and other online threats are constantly developed and released. Keeping your web browser, operating system and security software up-to-date is the best defence against them. Many of these can be set to update automatically.
Protect ALL your online devices: Computers are not the only devices that can be infected and you should consider protection for smartphones, gaming systems and any other device or smart appliance that is Web enabled. The mobile anti-virus and anti-malware market is relatively mature now, so there are a number of excellent solutions available.
Prepare: Back-Up and keep secure copies of any work or other information such as photos, invoices etc. so that should you be unfortunate enough to be infected you can wipe your system and restore your data from an uninfected copy. You might consider using a cloud based service, many of which offer free storage up to a certain size.
Useful links:
Norfolk Police – The official website of Norfolk police.
Stalham Area Police – The local safer neighbourhood page, with contact details and information.
Ask the Police – Official Police Resource. The Ask The Police website provides you with information on a wide range of non-emergency policing matters.
Secured by Design – Official UK Police initiative that combines the principles of ‘designing out crime’ with physical security.
Sold Secure – Dedicated to reducing the risk of crime by assessment of security products.
Domestic Abuse The Pandora Project, which offers advice, support and information to adults and children affected by domestic abuse, working across West and North Norfolk, have launched a new on line live chat service to support victims of domestic abuse.
Victim Support – Covering the whole of Norfolk and Suffolk, a free, confidential support service specifically designed to help victims and witnesses of crime.
Hickling Parish Council 
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