Don’t be a Victim - Staying Secure in a Digital World

As our society continues to become more and more connected digitally, it unfortunately creates a breeding ground for criminal activity as well. The growing pool of personal and financial data being stored and transferred online exposes all of us to a greater threat of cybercrime.

While there’s no easy fix to keeping your data 100% secure, there are things you can do to impede criminals. We thought it might be helpful to reiterate some of the basic but extremely important tips that can keep your information and online accounts safe.

Keep your machine clean. Enable auto-updates for your operating system and browser. This closes the window of opportunity hackers have to jump in and wreak havoc.

Use a VPN. A Virtual Private Network, allows you to create a secure connection to another network over the Internet. VPNs can be used to shield your browsing activity from prying eyes on public Wi-Fi, access home networks when traveling and protect your logins on questionable networks.

When in doubt, throw it out. If you have ANY doubts about hyperlinks or attachments within emails or social media messages, toss them. And then do some research on the secure website of the company or the person who claimed to send it to determine its legitimacy.

Make your passwords secure. Your passwords should be long, differ from account to account and be hard to guess. If your biggest problem is remembering them, start using passphrases or have a password manager remember them for you.

Back up your data regularly. This allows you to always have the ability to restore corrupted, lost or stolen data due to computer viruses or damage.

Protect. Having software security is key! And enabling it to be auto-updated is best. Whether it’s on your smartphone, gaming system or other web-enabled devices, anything that connects to the Internet needs protection.

And don’t forget, everybody in your household needs the same amount of cyber security. Each family member should take the same precautions to keep their information safe.