6 quick and easy tips for Safer Internet Day

For Safer Internet Day, we’ve picked out 6 really simple yet effective tips that will do a lot to help you keep yourself secure and safe on the Internet.

If you’re looking for an excuse to do a few quick things that will drastically improve your security, then doing them today is the perfect time.

Use 2FA for all those important accounts

Two-factor-authentication is now a feature that any online service worth its salt will have. It means whenever you log in from an unrecognised device (i.e. a device you’ve not logged into an account with before) you’ll need to enter additional information other than your username and password.

This usually means a code that can be texted to your phone or generated using a mobile app. It provides an invaluable extra layer of protection so if your password ever gets leaked online (be it a data breach, a phishing attack or a malware attack) crooks still won’t be able to access your account.

We strongly recommend enabling 2FA on all important accounts, including Facebook, eBay, PayPal and any online shopping accounts. We have a handy guide on setting up 2FA on Facebook using an authenticator app, meaning you don’t have to part ways with your phone number.

Sort out your passwords

Yes, yes. Use strong passwords. Lowercase, uppercase, numbers, symbols etc. We won’t go too much into that because we know that you know the drill.

But we will also stress some less repeated password advice. Never reuse the same password on multiple accounts, because that means if one account gets compromised, multiple accounts get put at risk. Also, consider using a password manager. The benefits of these programs is that they can automatically generate and store strong passwords, and can autofill login pages with those credentials. That means the only password you need to remember is the password for your password manager! We recommend LastPass.

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Backup Your Data

With the continued rise of nasty malware like ransomware that has the capability of destroying all of your most treasured files, not to mention other ever present threats like theft or mechanical faults, having a current backup is as important as ever. That means a second copy of your important files on a separate drive that you can use if something goes wrong with the original copies. Our recommended backup solutions are here.

Stop opening email attachments and links

It is important that email users start completely re-evaluating their approach to email attachments and links. Never open attachments or click links on an email that you were not explicitly expecting from a specific sender, even if you think you recognise the person who sent the email.

That is to say, every email attachment and link should be considered blacklisted unless you were specifically expecting an email from a particular person at a particular time that contains either a link or an email.

Remember, emails are still one of the most popular methods of spreading malware and initiating phishing scams.

Ditch unsupported software

Yes, that means Windows 7, as well as any other software that is no longer supported, and remember to continually apply updates and patches to any software you do use to keep it up-to-date and secure.

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Lock down your Facebook account

Finally, if you use Facebook, then it’s always worth revisited your privacy settings to make sure that everything is as it should be. That includes making sure your posts are friends only, your friends list is hidden, you’ve enabled tag review and you don’t have any potentially valuable personal information set to public. Luckily, we have an ultimate guide that explains how to do all of that.

Have a great Safer Internet Day!