What to do if you clicked a suspicious link
It happens to the best of us. You’re scanning through your emails or scrolling through a text thread, and before you realize it, you’ve tapped a link that feels… off. Maybe the website looks slightly wrong, or your browser starts acting strange. That instant “oh no” feeling is your intuition telling you something might be wrong.
The good news is that clicking a link isn’t an automatic game-over for your digital life. While it’s a moment to take seriously, there are clear, calm steps you can take right now to secure your information and your device. Let’s walk through exactly what to do to get back on solid ground.
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What's a password manager and why you probably need one
Think about how many online accounts you have. Between email, banking, social media, shopping, and that one random site you used once to buy a specific lightbulb, it’s probably dozens—if not hundreds. Now, be honest: how many of those accounts share the same password? If you’re like most people, the answer is “too many.”
A password manager is a simple tool that solves this problem once and for all. It’s essentially a digital vault that stores all your login credentials in one encrypted place. Instead of memorizing a hundred complex strings of characters, you only have to remember one “master password” to unlock the vault. It’s like having a personal assistant who remembers every key to every door in your life, so you don’t have to.
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Which browser should you actually use? Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge compared
Choosing a web browser used to be a simple decision based on which icon you liked best or which one came pre-installed on your computer. Today, the stakes are a bit higher. Your browser is your primary window to the digital world, handling everything from your banking to your social life. While they all technically “open websites,” the differences in how they handle your data, your battery life, and your productivity are significant.
In this guide, we’ll look past the marketing and dive into what actually separates Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge in 2025.
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Free vs. paid VPNs: What you're really trading off
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) have gone from niche tools for corporate offices to household names for anyone looking to stay private online. But as you start looking for one, you’ll immediately run into a choice: do you pay $5–$10 a month, or do you grab one of the dozens of “free” versions available in the app store?
While a free app is always tempting, the old saying holds true—if you aren’t paying for the product, you probably are the product. When it comes to your digital privacy, the tradeoffs between free and paid services are significant, affecting everything from your connection speed to how your personal data is handled behind the scenes.
Read moreHow to opt out of ad tracking online: A complete guide
We often talk about privacy here at Getting Things Tech and one of the things we are talking about when we say privacy is the massive data collection that goes on as a means to sell more effective advertising. There are pros and cons to this and we generally consent because we are assured that it lets things stay free.
However, when we know the extent to which the NSA and other intelligence organizations are gaining access to any stores of data, it might just make sense to disallow anyone from gathering personal information online, even if it is “just” to target you with ads.
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