In essence, personal data is any kind of information that could identify you. It could be your credit card number, medical reports, national insurance number, or even the pictures you share online. Unfortunately, in today's digital world that requires us to share much of our personal information online, this data can easily be leaked, whetherbecause of negligent website owners, or interference from hackers.
Either way, the consequences can be devastating. Therefore, it is essential to take all possible measures to prevent your personal information from falling into the wrong hands or getting lost. Read on for 7 helpful tips that can help you keep your confidential and critical data safe and secure.
1.Use Strong Passwords
The most basic precaution to prevent any unwanted party from accessing your valuable data is to use strong passwords. Use a password that combines letters, numerals, and special symbols, and which will be hard for hackers to crack. Strong passwords are essential because hackers don't guess your passwords manually anymore. Instead, they make use of high-level programs that can make a high number of guesses in a fraction of a second. You may use a password manager to manage all your passwords and keep them secure.
2.Use Private Browsing and a VPN
When you browse websites, you can potentially share a great deal of browsing and personal data without your knowledge. Therefore, it’s important to use private browsing mode to avoid sharing your browsing history. Popular browsers have this mode built-in: in Chrome, it’s known as 'Incognito mode', and on Firefox, ‘Private mode’. Furthermore, when you have to access public Wi-Fi for browsing, you should use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) so that you don’t share any personal information the network provider.
3.Beware of Credit Card Skimming
Never use your credit card for payments with merchants you don’t trust. They could use a hidden electronic device connected to the card machine to steal your card details.
The fraud can be avoided if you use the tap-to-pay option with a
contactless card machine. Such devices don’t need to swipe your card. Instead, they read the card information using electromagnetic signals, and so avoid the risk of card skimming.
4.Install Antivirus and Anti-malware Programs
Make sure all your devices, be it your laptop or your smartphone, are protected with strong antivirus and antimalware programs. Additionally, you should keep these programs up-to-date. This is the only way to prevent hackers from infiltrating your devices and installing malicious software.
This could be spyware that stays hidden on your system and spies on your activity, or a virus that corrupts your data. Additionally, there are many forms of malware that performs malicious operations on your devices, such as ransomware that locks or encrypts your data and only provides access if you pay a ransom.
5.Beware of Phishing
Phishing is a common technique that hackers use to deceive you and steal your confidential information. For example, you may receive a URL in an email or a text message which pretends to be from a genuine organization you trust, such as your bank. If you click on the URL, you will goto a website that looks genuine, but is entirely fake.
The fake website will ask you to sign in using your password, allowing the scammers to get your password. They can then use your password to access your account on the bank’s actual site. Beware of such messages and always type the URL of a known organization into your browser instead of attempting to access the site from a URL provided.
6.Backup Your Data
Backing up your important personal data is essential in today's uncertain, digital-driven world. It’s important to keep a copy of your information on a different storage device. If your primary device gets damaged or its data is corrupted, you’ll always have another copy.
Experts say that ideally you should keep multiple copies of your data in different geographical locations, as this will keep your information safe even in the face of a natural disaster. Additionally, if your information is exposed to ransomware, your backup will help you to retrieve your data and avoid you having to pay a huge ransom to the hackers.
7.Limit Sharing Critical Information on Social Media
Social media is a silent villain as far as data sharing is concerned. People share a lot of personal information through pictures and texts on various social media platforms. Beware of the information you share as posts or messages on social media.
Do not accept friend requests from unknown people, as these could be fake profiles with malicious intent. Fake friends on social media could use the opportunity to subject you to advanced phishing methods such as
social engineering.
Even if you take all possible precautions, today’s highly sophisticated hackers may still be successful in infiltrating your data. Therefore, it’s also important to stay aware of the latest developments in cybersecurity. This will help you to incorporate the latest tools to protect your valuable personal information.
