5 Tips for Online Safety this Holiday Season
Tip #1 Only share what you want with who you want
Social media is a great way to stay connected with others online, but it can be hard to know where to draw the line with sharing. Attackers regularly use social media as a reconnaissance tool. It’s no longer surprising to hear about people falling victim to identity theft or networks being infiltrated because of information gathered from online.
Remember: your information isn’t as private as you think
What can you do?
Double check all requests before accepting on social.
Be cautious about what you post.
Go through all your privacy settings and restrict who is able to view your profiles.
Connect only with people you know outside the realm of the internet.
Assume that anything you post online is public and permanent.
Pro Tip: Online “friends” are not always real friends. Limit access to private information to only those you personally know away from the keyboard!
Tip #2 Just install the updates and get it over with…
We all groan when we see the popup asking to install updates and restart. Take it from us, your best bet is to find a stopping point and just install the updates.
New vulnerabilities are discovered every day in every software product imaginable (yes, including you, Apple users). Once these vulnerabilities are discovered, software providers rewrite or update their software code to patch holes so they can’t be exploited.
It’s not just your computer you need to keep updated. Don’t forget about your phone or tablet.
What can you do?
Learn what software you have installed so you can stay up to date.
Turn on automatic updates, or at the very least, a setting that notifies you of available updates.
Don’t let yourself get too far behind on operating systems (OS).
Pro Tip: One of the easiest ways to keep things up to date is to remove old software you don’t even use. Look at your programs and ask yourself, when was the last time you used most of them? Probably not for a while. If you have to have it, make sure it’s updated regularly.
Tip #3 What should you do with your passwords?
Your password is the key to all of the information you hold near and dear. How could anyone possibly follow ALL of the password best practices?
One solution is password managers These systems are very easy to use, and oftentimes make using the internet not only safer but also easier. Here is a non-extensive list of password managers, as of October 3, 2019, from Wikipedia.
Make strong passwords and passphrases A passphrase is a sentence that you can easily remember and type. The longer your passphrase, the stronger it is. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published an excellent blog post about how to come up with a good passphrase and the science behind how a good passphrase should work.
Protip: Always create strong, unique passwords or passphrases for each of your online accounts and secure them with a password manager to reduce the number of passwords that need to be remembered. It may take minor effort to set up, but it will be worth it.
Tip #4 Don’t check your bank account at the coffee shop
Who doesn’t love free Wi-Fi? We all do! Especially hackers. Certainly, free Wi-Fi hotspots can come in handy when you have a bad cell signal or you need to get some work done. But that convenience could come at a price.
What can you do? Avoid using public computers if possible.
If you need network connectivity and are forced to use a public Wi-Fi or ethernet connection, use a VPN. Use Private Internet Access, NordVPN or any number other VPN providers for personal use on PCs, iOS, Android and Kindle.
PRO-TIP: Use a VPN whenever possible. If you can’t, double check that the website you are on is using HTTPS and has a valid certificate (check for a lock icon by the URL).
Tip #5 Protect your phone
What can your computer do that your phone can’t? Seriously, I can’t really think of anything. You can surf the internet, check email, edit documents, shop, bank, invest — the list is endless.
However, a lot of the security issues and concerns we have with computers also apply to phones.
What can you do?
Use strong passphrases (see Tip #3) or fingerprint readers.
Set a lock screen timeout of just a few minutes at most, requiring a password or fingerprint to unlock the device. Better yet, immediately lock the device when you’re finished using it.
Encrypt the SD card. This keeps your data safe even when your device is lost or stolen.
Never install an application from an unknown source.
Back up the data on your device.
Install antimalware software to protect your mobile device from viruses, key loggers, phishing websites and other malicious activity.
PRO-TIP: Don’t do anything on your phone you wouldn’t do on your computer. The same rules apply. You are not safer because the screen is smaller.
Source: 30 Tips in 30 Days, Wipfli