Just last year, millions of consumers were threatened by cyber breaches at Marriott hotels, not to mention Google and Facebook. Because we are so tethered to our smartphones, social media and e-commerce, it’s all too easy for personal information to leak out over digital channels.

In an age of unparalleled connectivity, consumers have become complacent to the threats inherent in using mobile phones, laptops, and other digital devices. And the danger isn’t only lurking at coffee houses, libraries or other public venues. We can also be hijacked at home.

With every almost every website requesting our email address to sign-in, hackers have an easier time gaining access. The only challenge is guessing our passwords. In addition, the simplicity of resetting “forgotten” passwords adds another level of risk.

Considering that so many of us have had our private data exposed through phishing scams, data breaches and the sale of personal data, it’s time to secure our personal data and beef up digital security at home and on our personal devices.

According to Cell Phone Deal, 95% of cybersecurity breaches are the result of human error. Whether a breach comes from a personality quiz or checking our bank balance while at Starbucks, we can take steps to proactively guard personal data. Here are a few simple strategies to boost digital privacy and security.

First, when making a purchase or setting up an affinity account, you are not required by law to share your phone number or email address. And if a vendor does require you to authenticate your email address, set up a burner account that you use for shopping and other inconsequential online activities, while reserving your main email address for important tasks like banking and healthcare.

Second, Vancouver-based entrepreneur and digital security innovator Thierry LeVasseur says it’s essential to keep your apps and software updated. He suggests turning off Wi-Fi until you need it and using lock codes and vaults.

LeVasseur is also a fan of two-factor authentication security keys. Even if a hacker did figure out your password, they still wouldn’t be able to access your information unless they also had in their possession the physical security key.

Third, when setting up your home wireless network, you can take steps to ensure it cannot be accessed by unauthorized parties. Justin Wetherill, the president and co-founder of uBreakiFix, a tech-repair enterprise with more than 375 stores across the U.S. and Canada, shares these tips for setting up a secure home Wi-Fi network:

● Enable encryption on your access point (router/gateway)
● Do not use WEP encryption
● Use WPA or WPA2 encryption
● Select a long, secure password (use the same methodology you have learned about in this course to make the password)
● Change your Wi-Fi network name (SSID)from the default name to something unique. Default SSIDs are very obvious, and to hackers indicate a “soft target” (a network setup by a novice, meaning it is likely easier for them to hack).
● Don’t disable the SSID Broadcast option
● Disable remote login
● Disable wireless administration (meaning you’ll need to plug directly into the router to change any settings

Fourth—and you had to know it was coming—create secure passwords. Better yet, use a password manager, which is essentially a virtual vault that creates and then stores complicated, hard-to-hack passwords for all your online accounts. Dashlane, 1Password, KeePass, and LastPass are among the most popular, and they’re either free or inexpensive.

Finally, take inventory of your digital footprint. Even if you haven’t logged onto MySpace since 2003, your profile information, instant message history and “top friends” list could still be contributing to your digital footprint years later.

The simplest way to audit your digital footprint is to enter your name in a search engine and then delete or deactivate any old accounts that pop up. As an additional precaution, visit your internet browser’s privacy settings and choose to disable third-party cookies to eliminate unwanted web tracking.

Here’s to surfing safely and keeping the bad guys out!

Published: 2019-03-31 12:27:19