The modern, online world is rife with risk. Every time we connect to our favourite websites and online services, we create an opportunity for malicious people and organisations to steal our data, and ultimately make life miserable.
Let’s consider a few basic precautions we might take to protect ourselves.
Use Strong Passwords and Enable Two Factor Authentication
A good password should be complex enough that a hacker won’t be able to guess it using a brute force algorithm. This ideally means a random string of characters, including both letters, numbers, and punctuation marks. Of course, the harder a password is to guess, the more difficult it will be to remember – which is why password managers come in so handy.
Of course, passwords aren’t the only way of confirming our identity online. Another approach might be to enable multi-factor authentication, which requires the use of mobile phones and biometric markers. Sensitive services, like bank accounts and government logins, are protected using this kind of authentication.
Stay Alert to Phishing Scams and Suspicious Links
Not all of the links that come through your email inbox are benign. It’s worth being cautious about what you click on. Unexpected attachments and requests for personal information are worth treating with suspicion.
Use Secure Connections and Consider a VPN
If you’re connecting to the internet via a public WiFi network, then you’ll leave yourself vulnerable to Man-in-the-Middle attacks. This is when a hacker interposes their machine between your machine and the router, without you even being aware that it’s happening. Or, they might set up their own device as a WiFi hotspot, and trick you into connecting to it.
Using cellular data, website encryption, and special software can be helpful. A free VPN for Windows might provide a means not only of protecting your connection, but also of accessing content from different parts of the world.
Keep Software, Apps and Devices Updated
Sometimes, vulnerabilities might arise in the code behind your favourite software. Developers face a constant battle to patch up these vulnerabilities – but if you’re going to take advantage, and give yourself maximum protection, you’ll need to actually download and install the relevant updates. This is particularly worthwhile in the case of your operating system.
Set up automatic updates so that all of this work is done on your behalf, behind the scenes. That way, you won’t have to worry about accidentally skipping an update!