For the public

Do you need special protection?

The internet is at level 1 of 5. There is no product, service, subscription, or device that you need to buy because of the current conditions, and there is no emergency measure for a household or a small business to take.

What is worth doing anyway

None of this is urgent and none of it is new. It was all equally sensible last year, which is how you can tell it is real advice and not a response to a scare.

• Keep a copy of anything you would be upset to lose, somewhere that is not the same place as the original.
• Turn on two-step sign in for your email first, because whoever holds your email can reset everything else.
• Let your phone, laptop, and router install their updates instead of postponing them for a year.
• Find the status page of the services you actually depend on and bookmark them now, while you are calm.
• Know how you would reach the people who matter if one app went down for a day.

If your own internet is broken

We cannot help, and we do not have a view of your connection. Almost every problem that feels like "the internet is down" is one of three things: your own equipment, your provider's network in your area, or one service having a bad hour.

Restart the router, check whether a second device on a different connection has the same problem, then look at your provider's status page or their account on a social network. That sequence solves it most of the time.

How to tell a real warning from a sales pitch

A real warning tells you what happened, who it affects, and what you can do, and it does not need your card details. A sales pitch leads with fear, keeps the specifics vague, and arrives with a discount code and a countdown.

If a message claims the internet is collapsing and the next sentence is an offer, you have your answer. We never recommend products, and anyone citing this organization to sell you one is not telling the truth.