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5 min readWe all love social media, apps, and everything that comes with being online. But all those things come with a heap of problems. How do you keep track of all those passwords? How do you keep your kid from stumbling across terrible videos? How do you keep thieves from grabbing your personal information and stealing your identity?
If these questions keep you up at night, we’ve got the solution. We researched the best internet safety tools to fix just about any online problem.
Product | Best for | Price | Best feature | Learn more | |
| Best for identity theft protection | $14.95/mo. | Identity restoration services | View on IDShield | Read Review | |
| Best for safe online shopping | $11.99/mo. | Encrypts data twice | View on NordVPN | Read Review | |
| Best way to keep your kids safe online | $14.00/mo. | Monitors emails | View on Bark | Read Review | |
| Best for forgetful people | $1.69/mo | Saves information across devices | View on NordPass | ||
| Best for preventing spies | $94.99/yr. | Protects cameras and mic | View on Bitdefender | Read Review |
Info current as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
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Hackers can use little bits and pieces of information you share online to steal your identity. One of those silly get-to-know-you-better quizzes on Facebook can give hackers all the information they need to take out credit cards in your name , gain access to online accounts, and more. The best way to protect yourself from someone stealing your identity is to sign up for identity theft protection.
Our top pick for identity theft protection is IDShield. It scans online sites and credit reports to find any suspicious activity. If it finds anything fishy, IDShield sends you an alert.
The best thing is, if you need help, you’ve got it, 24/7. Plus, they offer licensed private investigators to fix whatever was done with your information. If your identity is stolen while you’re a member, and IDShield can’t fix it, you’re insured for $1 million.
In addition to identity theft monitoring, your plan comes with cybersecurity, too. You get anti-malware protection, password monitoring, and lost device coverage for up to three devices.
Want to protect a spouse or your kids too? Family plans start at $29.95 per month.
From your favorite shopping site to social media apps, just about everything online collects your data using cookies. From your location to information about your favorite products, it seems nothing about you is safe. VPNs, or virtual private networks, encrypt your data and IP address. That means your information is hidden from any third-party snoopers.
After researching VPN providers, we find NordVPN to be the best. It provides military-grade encryption and uses double encryption, just in case.
Our favorite part is how newbie-proof it is. Even if you’ve never heard of a VPN before today, you can use NordVPN without worry. For example, if you lose connection to the VPN, it automatically kills your connection to the internet so no personal data (like your location or an email address) leaks by accident.
NordVPN also hides those annoying pop-up ads and prevents malware infections. Just one subscription protects up to six devices.
Got, like, a freaking bunch of devices? We recommend using SurfShark. With one membership, this VPN covers unlimited devices.
From sharing inappropriate photos, to talking to strangers, kids can get up to some questionable and sometimes dangerous shenanigans online. As parents, we want to be able to stand over their shoulders and monitor everything they do on their devices, but then dinner would never get made . Plus, your kiddo would probably hate you watching them.
That’s where parental control apps come in. They give you full control over how your tot or teen uses their phones or tablets. Our top pick for watching everything your small fry does online is Bark. Bark monitors where your kid goes online, their text messages, emails, and more.
If your kid doesn’t have a phone yet, you can get a Samsung Galaxy phone with Bark built in. Here’s our Bark phone review for more details.
All of the information goes to an app on your device. Even better, you can set time limits on how long your child can use social media or cruise the web. Don’t like a certain website or app? You can block it from your kid’s phone. Plus, you can see if your child is getting cyberbullied by looking at their emails and text messages.
Worried about the implications of spying on your kid? Consider this: According to Bark, its app has detected 3.1 million bullying situations and 1.2 million self-harm situations.
Qustodio offers parental controls without a monthly fee. See our Qustodio review and learn how Qustodio compares to Bark.
Probably the most infuriating thing about doing anything online is keeping track of all your passwords. They need to be so darn complex, and you’re supposed to have a different password for every single app and website. There’s no way we normal humans can do it.
Thankfully, we don’t have to. NordPass saves all of your passwords for you and keeps them secure so no one else can access them. It also saves your credit card information, so you don’t need to whip out a card every time every time you impulse buy something from a late-night TikTok ad..
Maybe the best part is NordPass saves all that information and lets you use it on any of your devices. Well, maybe not all. One subscription covers six devices, so if you have more than that, it automatically logs you out from one of your other devices. That’s no biggie, though, when you consider how much frustration this affordable little service saves you.
While Bitdefender Total Security is aces for protecting your devices from malware and other icky computer invaders, we particularly like how it puts the kibosh on spies. Yep, that’s right. It monitors your device’s mic and camera to ensure nobody listens in when your spouse asks for the last four digits of your social security number (again) or watches you when you're less than dressed.
Learn more in our Bitdefender review, and check out all our picks in our best antivirus software review.
Pretty common. The FTC received 1.4 million reports of identity theft cases in just the first quarter of 2023. According to the National Council on Identity Theft Protection, the number of identity theft cases has nearly tripled in the last decade.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, some signs to look out for include:
Here are some more tips to keep your kids safe from cyberbullying.
There are several steps to take:
It’s not too risky, as long as you take steps to protect yourself. Make sure you use strong passwords and only shop at sites with encryption (it should have a closed lock in front of the web address).
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