Online Security - 15 Jun 2019

Five Ways To Increase Your Online Security Now

The world of cyber-security is progressing at a considerable speed, and at the same time, advances in technologies are becoming increasingly better at assisting the hackers and cyber-criminals in exploiting data security loopholes. The constantly increasing scale of cyber security attacks is a primary concern for internet users and business organizations.

Here are three things you can do right now to make your online profiles, email, and data more secure:

1. Install a password manager: The first rule for being safe online is to have a different random password for each site. Long and random passwords prevent brute-force attacks. Using a complex password for each account anticipates having all your accounts compromised at once when a data breach occurs, because of password reuse. No one can create and memorize a thousand random passwords, so the best way to do this is to use a password manager.

2. Use two-step verification: Most of the principal online services, such as Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, etc., have an option that sets up two-step verification. Basically, when you log in to your account, you must also answer a security question, or you are sent a text message with a code that you then type in. There are other, different ways online companies do this, but the basic concept is that before you log in, you have to provide a quick and easy secondary way to verify that you are you.

3. Review your privacy settings: Evaluate the settings on social networks and sharing sites to make sure you are sharing your data with whom you mean to.

4. Backup your valuable data: Backup the data you care about, including photos, videos, documents, and more, either on an external hard drive or in the cloud…or both! This will save you from hardware breakdown, unwanted deletion, and even crypto locker malware. Use an external hard drive and/or back up your data in the cloud, for example using Google Drive or Dropbox.

5. Secure your computer: Make sure your antivirus and firewall are working correctly.

The Security Checkup gives you personalized and actionable security suggestions that help you strengthen the security of your Google Account, and it only takes two minutes to finish.

Taking the Security Checkup doesn’t just help make you safer while using Google. The Checkup also includes personalized tips to keep you safer across the web, like helping you set up a screen lock on your mobile phone and advising you to remove risky third-party sites and apps that have access to your account.

In today’s world of huge cyber security risks, it is essential for you to be equipped with the security tools and privacy enhancements that are needed to safeguard your most valuable asset, aka your data.