We all use the internet to perform tasks that help us to work or communicate better. Unfortunately, your information has value, so you are at risk from criminals or other people accessing your data that you intended to keep private.
There are lots of ways you can keep your data more secure, so read on and find out :
Be careful what you post
Social media has had a huge impact over a very short period of time, but you must be careful what you post. Ensure you only add people as friends that you know and don’t be a friend hoarder.
If you’re posting details that you’ve also included in passwords, such as pet name, birth date, favourite film etc, then you are making it easy for someone to use that information against you.
Next time you’re prompted to review your privacy settings, make sure you do so!
Passwords
Talking of passwords, if you do use simple information as discussed above, ensure you change that habit right now! Your information is only as secure as the password that is used to protect it. If you use a simple password and use that same password for multiple accounts, you are going to become a victim.
Choose a passphrase rather than a password and secure your personal information. If you use 3 random words and 2 or 3 random numbers to create a password, it will provide a level of security that is hard to crack or guess.
Of course, remembering all those passwords might be tricky, so use a password manager, such as Lastpass.
And one final note, don’t share your password with anyone. And if you have to, or you think someone has your password, change it immediately.
Two Factor Authentication
To further protect your accounts, don’t just rely on passwords. Most accounts (like email, social media and cloud services) allow you to use your phone as an additional authentication method, so even if someone guesses or cracks your password, they still can’t get into your account.
Use something like https://www.turnon2fa.com to help you find instructions for your accounts and enable it today!
Use a VPN
When using free wifi in your favourite café, always use a VPN (such as Tunnel Bear), this encrypts your information so no one can see your data. If you use free wifi anywhere, there is potential for others to see your traffic, or worse someone might have set up a ‘fake’ wifi network to capture all your data and use it against you or to steal from you!
Lock your device
Whether your using a PC, tablet or smart phone, ensure you set a PIN or passphrase and always lock any device when you leave it unattended. You never know who might want to see what you’re up to or even steal your data.
And as always, be careful what you click on!