Using digital tools can be an effective way to boost your online safety. Check out the descriptions below to find out how these tools can help you stay safe online.
Please note: Lead Scotland is not liable for any damages arising from the use or inability to use the guidance that we provide in our website, training or provided in our other services. Lead Scotland is not liable for any action or decision taken as a result of using our website or our services. Lead Scotland provides links to other websites. Lead Scotland is not responsible for the content of external websites.
Digital health checker
Lead Scotland have developed a brand new tool that lets you take a complete audit of your digital health – Digital.Lead. Complete the checklists to find out what you are doing well, and where you have room to improve. Many of the checklists point straight back to My.Lead, so if you want to boost your skills, or just refresh your knowledge, you can do this at the click of a button. Digital.Lead stores your data in your browser, so we do not have access to it.
URLVOID
URLVOID is a tool that lets you check whether a link is safe or not, before you follow it. To use, simply copy and paste a link into URLVOID and press scan website. URLVOID then runs this web address through 35-40 databases to see if the website is flagged as potentially harmful. Look for the detection count score in the results: it must be 0 out of 35-40. Any other number means the website has been flagged as harmful, and you must not follow.
Security.org
Whenever you make an online account, it needs to be protected with a strong, unique password. Using security.org’s how secure is my password tool, you can try new passwords and see how strong they are. The best passwords are made using three random words – if you’re finding that your current password is not very strong, try putting three random words together and see how much better this is.
Have I Been Pwned
Data breaches occur when cyber criminals are able to access private data. Have I Been Pwned lets you check whether your login details (credentials) have been exposed in a data breach. Enter your email address to find out if it has been involved in a data breach. If it has, you will be at a higher risk of spam emails, and also of cyber criminals trying to gain access to your accounts. Make sure to set up strong, unique passwords and to enable 2FA on every important account to reduce this risk.
Just Delete Me
Data breaches occur when cyber criminals are able to access private data. One of the best things you can do to reduce the likelihood of your data being involved in a data breach is to close down old online accounts. It is sadly not always easy to find out how to close down an online account. Just Delete Me shows you the steps involved in closing down a huge range of specific accounts.
Ask Silver
Ask Silver is a free AI powered scam checker, which you contact through WhatsApp. You can take a screenshot – or even a photo – of anything you are concerned about, and Ask Silver will evaluate it and gives you suggestions on what to do next to stay safe. Ask Silver gives you a reply in seconds, helping you to decide whether or not something is a scam. Remember, Ask Silver is a free tool to be used alongside your own research and best judgement.
Tools for tackling non-consensual intimate image abuse
For adults (18+) – Stop NCII
Run by the Revenge Porn Helpline, StopNCII works by creating a ‘hash’ (code) from your intimate image or video. An image hask is created by using an algorithm to assign a unique hash value to your file. StopNCII does not access the image, it just creates a hash from it. Any copies of this image will have the same hash (like a digital fingerprint). StopNCII shares the hash (but not your image) with a wide range of participating companies, including Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and PornHub. These companies are then able to block your image being shared through their platforms with the hash.
For under 18s – Report Remove
Report Remove is run by Childline, and works in exactly the same way as StopNCII. The difference is that Report Remove is for under 18s. You can still use Report Remove if you are an adult, but are under 18 in the nude photo.