Unfortunately the internet is not as safe to use as we would like. 'Assuming' that your data (personal or work) is safe at all times while browsing can land you in trouble.
However there are some simple, low-cost, steps you can take to help protect yourself online. So regardless of if you are a small business, or for your personally, here are some top tips based on guidance from the UK National Cyber Security Centre:
Protect your email accounts by using a strong and separate password
Think about your email account, it is used to get into all sorts of your online accounts. If that gets hacked into, you other accounts are at risk. Therefore ensure that your email account is secured with a strong and separate password to other ones you may use.
The best type of password is something that uses 3 random words as they are more difficult to crack. For example, safer-internet-day or similar. If the system you are using forces you to use a character like '!' or numbers you can even replace letters with numbers. Like 3 or E.
Password managers: how they help you secure passwords
On that very point about passwords, it can be a pain to remember loads of them. A password manager can help you create and remember passwords easily so you just need to remember one. There are a number available to the public, always shop around and see which one looks the best.
Install the latest software and app updates
Software and app updates for your devices contain vital security updates to help protect your devices from cyber criminals. Once a week at least, just do a little check and make sure your devices are fully up to date. For many things like your phones you can set it to update itself while you sleep overnight.
Turn on 2-step verification (2SV)
Also called 'multi-factor authentication', 2-step verification is recommended to help protect your online accounts. This requires you to confirm via a separate method to your password (like a text or email code) that it is indeed you logging in and not someone with your details. That way, if someone has got hold of your details, you'll know when they try to log in!
If you store your important data, such as your photos and key documents, on a device they can be lost if the device was not 'backed up'. You can do this either through your device settings to backup to a 'cloud' (online) storage system or by manually backing them up to an external hard drive. Note though, that hard drives (like USB sticks) can have their own risks, especially if you lose them!
For more tips on the above check out the NCSC website and guidance docs. If you are a small business and want some security and data protection support then get in touch to see how we can help.
