5 Ways To Keep Your Information Safe Online

In today's digital age, keeping your personal information secure is absolutely essential. Here's how you can protect your personal information and eliminate various cyber threats.

1. Think Before You Click

Did you know that 83% of organizations experienced a phishing attack in 2017, but only 3% of individuals can actually identify a scam? Phishing is one of the most common methods that hackers use to gain access to personal information. By disguising themselves as trustworthy individuals, they can persuade others to disclose sensitive information. This can lead to a type of cyberattack called credential stuffing, in which cybercriminals use stolen usernames and passwords to log in to other websites, in the hopes of being able to gain access to an individual's many accounts.

To avoid falling victim to a phishing attack, don't click on email links from people you don't know. As a general rule, you also shouldn't enter personal information online unless you see an icon of a padlock in the address bar and a URL that starts with "https" as opposed to "http." These features indicate an encrypted connection, and they're commonly seen on websites that require you to enter sensitive data, such as baking or e-commerce sites.

2. Use Multi-Factor Authentication

Considering that compromised passwords are responsible for over 80% of security breaches, you can see why approaching the login process differently can strengthen security. As the name suggests, multi-factor authentication is a security enhancement that requires at least two methods of authentication to gain access to an account. For example, after entering your username and password, you may receive a PIN number to your mobile device that you must enter to gain entry to your account.

By adding an extra layer of security, multi-factor authentication makes it more difficult for hackers to break into your account and compromise your data. Although stealing your password may not be that complicated, gaining access to your mobile device or tablet is much more complex.

3. Update Your Devices Regularly

Although many people ignore updates to their computers or phones, these upgrades are often essential to protecting your sensitive information. Cybercriminals are skilled in taking advantage of errors in software to gain access to your personal data, which is why it's so important to patch up these flaws as soon as possible.

Many browsers make this process easy for you by providing you with the option to automatically update whenever a new version becomes available to the public. Keeping your devices up to date can protect you from:

• Viruses
• Trojans
• Spyware
• Identity theft
• Phishing

Not only can updating your devices protect your personal information, but it can also provide you with a more streamlined browsing experience.

4. Stay Away From Public Wi-Fi

While public Wi-Fi can be convenient when you're trying to respond to emails in a coffee shop, connecting to a public network can give hackers the opportunity to access your private information. If you're in a situation where using public Wi-Fi is necessary, be sure to not enter any private information such as Social Security or credit card numbers. You can also use a VPN to keep your data anonymous.

5. Create Strong Passwords

Formulating strong passwords is another effective way to prevent cybercriminals from stealing your data. Although it's easier to remember a simple password that you use for all of your accounts, this can do you more harm than good in the long run. This is because if a hacker figures out your password, they now have access to all of your accounts.

When creating a password, be sure to create a unique one that contains a mixture of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. You should also use a different password for each website. Passwords should be longer than eight characters for maximum security.

Keeping your sensitive information safe from hackers is essential. Following these five tips can help protect you from cyber threats.