There seems to be an abundance of hackers, malware threats, phishing emails, and various scams happening online these days. Therefore, it is more important than ever to make sure that you and your personal information are safe and that it stays that way. Whenever you download, upload, use an app, turn on location services, or basically do anything at all online, your activity is logged in one form or another and you are potentially vulnerable to attacks.
That is why it is important to know what measures you can take to stay safe on the internet. Because let’s face it, most people are online these days and especially the younger generation are quite well-versed in internet security. Even though most internet users know not to respond to scam emails from an imaginary Nigerian prince, there are still many things to consider when securing your devices and personal information on the internet.
Everything is available at the touch of a button and there are apps for pretty much all your earthly needs. You can get weather apps, or mobile apps for playing games on the go; there are travel apps, which let you know if your train is going to be late, and there are apps for ordering dinner or finding the nearest restaurant with a cuisine of your choice. The possibilities are endless and while these features certainly have made our lives that much easier, it is important to remember that all these apps require some level of personal information about us. Every time you share your personal information with an app you are sharing it with second or third parties and it becomes out of your control. That is why companies like Apple are constantly updating their security and markets like the casino industry are now taking extra steps to secure their users’ privacy and personal data. This includes using facial recognition and adding additional methods of verification but there are plenty of things you can do as well to protect your information.
Let’s have a look at how you can secure your personal data online.
Securing your personal information
Even though it might seem like there are too many things to consider and it can be hard to know where to start, when you want to learn about staying safe online and how to make your personal data more secure then there are actually some really easy steps you can take right away.
The first thing you can quite easily do to increase your internet security is to have a look at your passwords. You want to make sure that you have strong individual and complex passwords that are unique as well. Try to refrain from using personal information such as birthdates and names in your passwords. Use a password manager to help you remember your different passwords for different accounts and change your passwords every few months.
Be smart about what you log into, sign up for, and click on. Scam giveaways or contests that just ask for your phone number or email to get in touch with you should be avoided. The same goes for phoney websites and emails. If you click onto a website that doesn’t look completely legitimate then just log out again.
Phishing emails can be a bit harder to detect because they very often look legitimate. Sometimes they even mimic emails that you might actually receive such as information from your bank or insurance company. If you are ever unsure about whether or not an email is really from your bank, insurance or phone company then call them up. Call up your bank and ask them if the email really came from them and remember: your bank, phone company, insurance company, etc, would never ask you to disclose or share personal information or data in an insecure email.
Be careful what you share on social media. Make sure your Facebook account is as private as possible, stay up to date on the privacy settings, and do not share things such as when you are going to be out of town or on holiday. Also, make sure you do not share personal things like your address, phone number, bank details etc. That goes for pictures as well; do not share pictures or screen shots that contain personal details.
Do not get complacent. Keep your security measures up to date, update your social media privacy settings, and change your passwords often.
I love tech and gaming, and am always looking for the ‘next big thing’…
