How to better protect yourself online in 2022

Huynh NguyenJune 27, 2022

How to better protect yourself online in 2022

The internet has been an incredible addition to our lives in many ways, but it has also brought its fair share of challenges. In 2021, research by Pew Research Centre found that over 41% of US residents surveyed said they had experienced some form of online harassment. The number rises significantly if we look at just women and younger people. In addition, cybercrime, hacking, and account takeovers are on the rise, costing companies and individuals billions every year. Keeping up with evolving threats is a challenge, but there are some small steps you can take to protect yourself.

Change your password

Many of us are guilty of using weak passwords, but the problem goes far beyond just that. Not only are we using simple, easy-to-guess passwords, but we are using them for multiple accounts. Exactly how bad we are at choosing original passwords is evidenced by the findings of a recent study by ExpressVPN, which produced an infographic based on the most popular passwords for each country, for example, “password” in the UK and “passwort” in Germany. Clearly, despite numerous cultural differences, the tendency to pick generic passwords is prevalent around the world and this is highly problematic for various reasons.

Perhaps the most important reason is that, for potential hackers, generic passwords are really easy to guess. This consequently means that they can access accounts and confidential information. This is even more problematic when you consider that many of us use the same password for multiple accounts. If, for instance, a criminal cracks one password, this can then give them access to other accounts such as a bank, email, social media, phone, and other payment accounts.

How can you work around this threat? Essentially, you should opt to use a unique, long password that includes numbers, symbols, and upper and lower case characters. There are even specific password generators that can create completely unique passwords for each of your accounts. Couple this with a secure password manager, and you are good to go.

Lockdown social media

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Social media is a place where we share a version of ourselves and a portion of our life with the world, but many of us do not realize that we are often sharing more than we intend to. For example, we post pictures of our daily life without realizing we are publishing our routine – when we are not at home, what our schedule looks like, and which cafes we frequent. Additionally, we can even accidentally share information about where we live or where our children attend school.

In the wrong hands, this information can be very dangerous. There are a number of steps that can be taken, including not geotagging or making sure you geotag after you have left the area. Additionally, pay attention to details like road signs in the background, easily identified landmarks near your home or children’s schools, or similar identifiers. You should also be cautious putting information like phone numbers or exact locations into your bio.

Use anti-virus

Investing in good anti-virus software is a necessity in 2022. Whether you have a Mac or Windows machine, you should be running regular virus and malware checks and regularly updating the software and your device. This effort should go hand-in-hand with awareness of what not to click online and care about when downloading files.

You should never download anything you are not sure of or click on links that are unsolicited or sent to you randomly over social media or email. Always be sure to check the link and make sure it looks legitimate and does not include any random letters, numbers, or apparent misspellings.

Staying safe online and offline has never been more important. Always stay on top of the steps you need to take and the tools available to you!

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