1.Don’t click that LINK!

Don’t click links in emails. Instead, type the URL you want to access directly onto the browser or be sure to double-check the URL content to avoid being a victim of phishing attacks.

2.Two-factor your authentications!

Two-factor authentication adds an extra step between inputting your password and accessing your account this way, you are much less likely to lose personal data due to phishing and other cyber scams

3.Using Personal Assistants?

Regularly delete any recorded conversations used by your personal assistants such as Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant or Bixby since there have been numerous instances where ‘personal data’ have been disclosed without consent from the users.

4.Keep it clean – Delete old files.

Be sure to minimize data replication by deleting old files you don’t use. 100% security can never be guaranteed, but we can reduce the places that can be compromised.

5.Be less social!

In this day and age, social media is a boom; however, everything you disclose about yourself on social media can be used against you. For example, your pets name being posted with their images may seem harmless but what if you have used it as your account recovery question’s response? Minimizing the amount of personal data on social media minimizes risk of compromise by hacker’s

6.Don’t sync for sync’s sake!

Automatic file and media sharing seems all too convenient however, cloud syncing services give hackers a covert way to control hijacked computers. Therefore, be sure to disable automatic file and media sharing whenever possible.

7.Keep off the track!

A recent study has disclosed that over 1 million android applications harvest tracking data. Hackers can use this information to find out where you live, your shopping habits, where your kids go to school, and more. Disabling location tracking on applications will mitigate you from this risk.

8.Sleeping Bluetooth LIE!

Bluetooth vulnerabilities allow data to be siphoned off your device when compromised therefore, it’s essential to switch Bluetooth when not in use.

9.Patch your devices

Software vulnerabilities give way to malicious attacks such as malware infecting your devices. This leads to loss of data and even account credentials. To mitigate this, it is essential always to keep your devices patched and up to date.

10.Encrypt away!

You need not be a secret agent to want to keep your data confidential. In fact, you might even be using encryption without knowing it! Many of the technologies we use day to day have encryption. One of the most common examples is instant messaging apps.

Whenever there is the option for encryption, go forth! Encrypt data on your hard drives and use email encryption tools when sharing personal data, as this minimizes the risk of exploitation by hackers