5 Simple Habits That Instantly Make You Safer Online

• Technology

The digital ecosystem is a place filled to the brim with opportunities and entertainment. Learning, gaming, and even entire jobs live online today. Modern internet users can work, study, and interact with friends in absentia with the help of a basic internet connection and a device they trust. That trust part is where the modern internet gets a little murky, though. For one thing, cookies and other seemingly harmless little bits of digital interaction come together to create a surprisingly comprehensive digital profile of every user. Bring in data brokers, and it's actually quite easy to find that your personal data has been spread out across the internet. Removing it isn't all that difficult, but it does take vigilance, and often the help of a scrubbing service.

Managing your digital profile is just one important habit that can help keep you safe in this interconnected world, though. There are a few more important mental tools and routine actions that are necessary to keep you and your information protected from prying eyes and bad actors. These five habits are all relatively simple. They only require you to make a few key changes to the way you approach your internet use but can massively boost the security buffer surrounding you and your personal information.

Use two- or multi-factor authentication

Most internet users will have at least a basic understanding of two-factor authentication. This is the process by which an additional, randomly generated credential is required to gain access to an account. This is sometimes done in the form of a passcode that is either sent in text format or emailed to you; Other times it relies on a dedicated authentication app. You can also see this kind of process at work when making a purchase requires you to approve the transaction in your banking app. The problem with two-factor authentication is that it slows you down.

Many people choose to forgo this extra layer of security out of convenience. But skipping 2FA or multi-factor authentication creates more than just a bit more speed through the login process. Without additional authorizations between credentials and the accounts they unlock, thieves and hackers can intrude on your personal details and sensitive data with relative impunity. All sorts of personal information is out there in the ether. With just a little bad luck, your password for a sensitive website or account may be compromised. Without additional authentication processes, pairing this password with your email address is all that's required to gain access to your Facebook account in order to start messaging friends or family members, your bank account to order a new card to an illegitimate address, or your Amazon account to start making fraudulent purchases.

Use a password manager and use different passwords

In the past, it was common practice to suggest changing your passwords on a regular basis. Even so, most users have not and do not engage in this practice, with 63% of people changing their passwords only when prompted. Experts now suggests leaving your passwords as they are unless you have reason to believe that the account has been breached or the site attacked by outside threats. That is, you shouldn't change your passwords if they are strong. But 46% of people don't utilize this type of password discipline, opting for easy to remember codes instead of secure ones.

Virtually all sources agree that strong passwords are important and password diversity is absolutely essential. No one should use the same password for multiple accounts, and this is particularly true of accounts that run the gamut of access types. If your Facebook password is breached, this should not be capable of unlocking banking accounts, work-related data, and more. A password manager can help tackle both of these problems. Instead of having to remember hundreds of complex and unique passwords to support all of your online activity — or having to write them all down and consult a handwritten list — a password manager is a central repository that can secure these access credentials.

Keep your browser, system, and devices updated

Updating your devices on a regular basis is an important step that doesn't take very long under most circumstances and can immediately amplify the security you enjoy online. In many cases, small updates and patches are released to handle security gaps and other small issues found in a piece of software or device's programming. Hackers are a constant nuisance to developers, and they are consistently on the hunt for new inroads and weaknesses that will allow them to harness information to serve illicit causes (and sometimes just 'for fun'). Other hackers actually work for these companies, performing white hat services to help actively uncover these vulnerabilities before they can be exploited for nefarious purposes.

When weaknesses are discovered, companies providing software support often work quickly to shore up these vulnerabilities. This is one of the primary reasons for so many minor updates to your phone, laptop, and other tools you use on a regular basis like software and app packages. If you fail to make the updates on a consistent basis, you leave yourself vulnerable to increasing threat levels. 50% of people wait to update their devices because "they are busy with other things," according to a 2021 Kaspersky study, leaving them at risk of attack on an ever-increasing basis.

Back up your data on a regular basis

Threats from external actors can be a major impetus for backing up your data. In the present digital environment, ransomware attacks are a risk that users must be aware of and work to mitigate. This is an attack in which a hacker will take over your system and then lock you out of it unless you pay them. Paying an attacker, however, doesn't guarantee that your device will actually be unlocked (Forbes reported in 2021 that 92% of victims who pay don't get their data back). In addition to keeping your devices up to date with security patches, you can engage in one particular habit that blunts the effects of this threat. Backing up your data mitigates the damage that a ransomware attack can unleash. Many people keep huge troves of documents and pictures saved on their computers. Having no backup can make you feel like you have no choice but to pay when hit by ransomware.

Data backups aren't just helpful for this reason. Hardware will always fail eventually. Having a backup allows you to easily transfer your important data from one device to the next without having to rely on data recovery experts that can cost an arm and a leg and may not actually succeed in recovering your important files. You don't have to back up your systems every week or month, necessarily, but the more you do it, the less damage you'll experience when a piece of hardware fails or an attacker gains access to your equipment.

Be aware of the latest phishing scams

Phishing attacks can be exceedingly hard to spot. The very nature of this threat makes it one that's diabolically difficult to counter. These approaches tend to look legitimate at first glance, and that's where their power is derived. Phishing is a general term describing all manner of illicit approaches aimed at enticing you to give up important pieces of information. This might be passwords for your sensitive accounts or wholesale access to your computer through remote connection tools that allow a hacker to take over your system. These approaches tend to break down the more you think about them, however. As a result, phishers frequently try to put a clock on your actions. If you're feeling pressure to do something that seems to run counter to your personal or financial wellbeing from a cold caller or email out of the blue, chances are it's not a legitimate contact from the source they claim to be.

Legitimate, consumer protection and law enforcement sources like the Federal Trade Commission and FBI are great resources to help consumers spot these kinds of approaches before they become victims. Unfortunately, phishing scams involving business emails (BEC) have become the second most common cybercrime tool in the contemporary digital marketplace. The average data breach of this sort now averages a whopping $4.88 million, according to IBM. Keeping yourself vigilant against this kind of threat and knowing the trends that phishing attackers are using to target unsuspecting victims is critical to keeping yourself safe online.