Lock Away Your Online Data
There’s a lot of risk involved with living. Even going to the grocery store can have untold dangers involved. And unscrupulous people the world over will stop at nothing to cause you harm, should they be so determined.
That’s why you do everything in your power to prevent those dangers from reaching you. Locking your doors, checking over your shoulder… little things like this make you feel safer as you go about your life.
And then you come home and turn on your computer, whether it be to browse, or game, or watch something with a streaming service. You drop your guard in the safety of your own home, only to find someone has obtained your credit card information and issued a number of charges to it you don’t remember purchasing.
The internet is no less dangerous than anywhere else in the world, despite the less corporeal nature of it. For those with some experience, you may have noticed just where those detested hackers got your credit card info. They got it from Hulu, namely from your Hulu subscription which stores your credit card info.
This is a serious problem already, but it can get worse. If they find a way to hijack your other accounts, who knows what kind of damage they might cause? They could send out emails from your account carrying links with viruses attached. People on your contacts who trust you implicitly will click those links, only to have their computers bricked by malware – and all the blame will fall on your shoulders.
Some sources like https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-identity-theft-and-cybercrime have found that cybercrime is on the rise. More and more people without proper security have reported identity theft that has occurred via the internet in recent years, and that number will only continue to climb as more people gain internet access.
Other than dropping off the grid entirely, what can you do to protect your information from criminals?
Cybersecurity Strategies
The first thing you can do is change your passwords. Do not share them with anyone, even people you believe are representatives of websites you use them on. Also, do not use the same password for multiple accounts, as that’s a good way to get hacked.
You should also never share personal information online. I know it’s tempting to jump on Facebook and share the latest details about whatever has happened in your life, but that’s just another way for criminals to find you. Doxing – when someone shares your personal information online with malicious intent – is all too common, especially in more active online communities like gaming or fandom. Keep as much to yourself as possible whenever you can, and the risk of this occurring drops significantly.
You should also frequently scan your computer for viruses. If one of those nasty buggers gets into your files, you may not notice until it’s too late. By then, your data will have been mined until every late detail of your private info has been uncovered, so use Windows Defender or Norton Antivirus services to clean your computer up and ensure nothing unwanted has snuck its way into your drives.
There are also a lot of good services, free or not, that provide you with additional cybersecurity. Lookout Data Security has many services that can protect all of your devices at home and on the go. Their platform is unified and easy-to-use, making it the perfect tool for those who travel for work with multiple devices at a time.
Their Premium Protection plan provides malware and antivirus security, 24/7 data monitoring, web protection, and Wi-Fi scanning. These are services provided by other competitors, but those competitors don’t provide this for multiple devices at a time.
That alone is great, with strong competitive pricing of only $29.99 a year, but the Premium Plus Complete Protection plan has even more. For $30 more, you add on identity protection including your SSN, credit card, and bank accounts. You also get social media monitoring, 24/7 identity theft expert support, and the greatest gift of up to $1 million of identity theft insurance.
All of this comes in a neat, easy to use package with well-tested systems. If you want a taste of their security, they also have an “Instant Identity Scanner” on their website, which checks to see if your email accounts have been compromised.
Your security is important, especially online. Nothing is forever, except for whatever you post on the internet, so keep your private information private however you can. This is the best way to ensure you don’t suffer catastrophic consequences and can help keep you from having to go through the very tedious legal process of identity theft reporting. Look into further cybersecurity measures so you can stay safe and reduce unnecessary risk to yourself.
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