Be careful of what you read on internet

The era of technology has brought information to our fingertips with the click of a mouse and swipe of a finger. Putting information on the internet, thus making it public, is unregulated, easy, inexpensive and can be done by almost everyone.
"There are several instances that occur on a day to day basis where websites are hacked and information on them is altered.Hacking has become a common phenomenon now," said Lovjot Singh, an ethical hacker and owner of Cyber Defense and Intelligence.
Personal opinions, reviews and even doctored information are available in hoards on the net and if mistaken as reliable facts, they can make a fool out of you. Nikhil Sharma, a student of DAV College-10, said, "We constantly need to take the help of data and information available on the internet for our assignments. There is no way of knowing that what we are reading on the net is correct. We have to trust the links that appear on webpage."
Unlike traditional forms of media like newspapers, magazines and books, there is no screening process for uploading anything on the internet. The onus lies on the reader to check the authenticity, reliability and credibility of the information.
One must learn to be skeptical and question every piece of information found on the internet. Any satire, parody or bias should be identified and a firm line should be established between fact and fiction.
"You must always check the domain of the webpage. Information on .gov and .nic domains is granted as published by the government. The sources and parental websites should be verified. One must never open any attachments with spam mail or divulge any sensitive information on the net for claiming a prize or lottery." Said Deepak Yadav from Chandigarh cyber crime cell.
Establish authenticity
1 Rely on primary information. Discussion forums and blogs are personal views of individuals and constitute secondary information. Always rely on primary sources of information like research and scholarly articles.
2 Indicators of reliable information are links, related links, external links, references and bibliography. Explore the links to establish the credibility of information.
3 Cross-check information. You should verify the authenticity of your information from two-three reliable sources.
4 Always check the date of publication. Checking when the webpage was last updated (present at the bottom of the webpage) and if there have been other developments.
Nehru case
In a recent case of internet unreliability, Wikipedia page of Jawaharlal Nehru was doctored and controversial changes were made in which Nehru's grandfather Gangadhar Nehru was shown as a Muslim and Nehru's profession was changed from barrister to "divider of India". This was a clear cut case of how easily the information on even the most popular sites can be wrongfully altered.
What to check
The source (domain name/URL)
Author's credentials
Copyright symbols
Contact information
Extensions of the files you are downloading
Time of the information put on the internet
Links (whether active or dead)