Five Bad Cybersecurity Habits to Break This Year
Every day we come across news related to data breaches and cybersecurity attacks. But, we often ignore such news and carry on with our lives thinking that cybersecurity is IT’s problem. It is high time that we break bad security habits and implement new ones.
Here are some bad tech habits you need to break:
1. USING THE SAME PASSWORDS
As per a study, a regular US resident has over a hundred password-protected accounts. In a perfect world, all the accounts would bear distinct passcodes. However, we have limited memory and are often unable to memorize many login credentials.
For this reason, several people keep the same passwords for most of their accounts. Even though this offers convenience, it also gives hackers an easy way to access the accounts. They just have to hack into one account, and they can access all the other ones. To prevent such incidents from happening, invest in a password management tool. A password manager will generate sturdy and unique passwords, and store them in a safe place.
2. NOT CREATING BACKUPS
Computers, tabs, laptops, and phones can be relied on. However, sometimes bad things can happen. If somebody steals your phone, can you restore your pictures, videos, contacts, and other data?
Backing up all the device data is a fantastic security practice. If your data gets corrupted or hijacked, then you do not have to fret as you can restore it. Get a secure Cloud service and upload a copy of your data there. You can use one account for all of your devices.
3. INADEQUATE PRIVACY CONTROL
Often, when we download new apps, we mindlessly allow all the terms and conditions and permissions. But, we must keep an eye on the permissions we grant to the app. Some applications can be malicious, and they can accumulate your personal data and cause harm. Moreover, social networking platforms collect a large number of data. Therefore, you must check the privacy status of your social networking accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
4. NOT LOGGING OUT
Several accounts and applications do not sign out the user when they exit from the app. Therefore, most users keep their emails, and Facebook accounts logged in at all times, whether or not they are using it. While it saves us from the hassle of entering the passwords each time we try to access our accounts, it is not very secure.
If the device falls into the wrong hands, the individual who gets it can go through your accounts, and even make purchases from the shopping apps which have your credit card information saved. Therefore, it is wise to always sign out of the applications when you are not using them. It might be a bit inconvenient, but at least your data will be safe.
5. SAVING CREDIT CARD INFORMATION
Making a long story short, saving credit card details on online payment getaways and portals is extremely risky. If your device or account gets hacked, then the hacker can order stuff from your account with your money, and get it delivered to their address.
Lucia Mandela is a Microsoft Office expert and has been working in the technical industry since 2002. As a technical expert, Lucia has written technical blogs, manuals, white papers, and reviews for many websites such as office.com/setup.
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