Digital security explained
Everything you need to know about staying safe online from computer security experts
Written by Nataly and Tanya
Part 1 — Your Digital Identity 🔐💻
More and more people are worried about “getting hacked” or falling for a scam on the internet, and they should be. Online crime is extremely pervasive at the moment and only getting worse.
Working in information security heightens our senses of paranoia. With that, we’d like to share some tips on how we sleep at night through this series.
We all know someone that has had a virus or malware on their computer, or had their credit card numbers stolen after shopping online. It seems overwhelming but you don’t need to work is Information Security or be an expert to know how to protect yourself against online fraud and other cyber threats. As professionals in the cuber security space, we decided to put together a short guide about staying safe online.
Your Privacy Matters
Let’s start with ensuring your privacy. Your online presence gives away more information than you may realize, which can be used to trick you, take advantage of you, or harm your reputation. The list below will help you limit the amount of information about yourself online.
Review your online presence: Google search yourself (just make sure you are not logged into any of your online accounts or favorite websites). What comes up? Is any of that information personal? Did you realize it was there? Perhaps there is information about you online that you were not aware that anyone can see (not just your ‘friends’) or that makes you uncomfortable. If you find things that you want to have removed you should change your privacy settings or ask to have the information taken down.
- Some large online service providers have “Security Check Up” features. They are quick to complete. We challenge you to do them for every social networking site that you use.
- Facebook: Update your privacy settings
- Google: Control what others see about you via this privacy checkup
- Google: Check other devices logged in via this security checkup
- LinkedIn: Privacy Settings
- Instagram: Manage which apps have access to your account
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/settings/safety
Citizen Lab created a simple and free security planner that can assist you in improving your online safety by creating a simple action plan.
Safety Pro-Tips 💡
Device Safety
- Tape a piece of paper over top of your webcam, and take it off when you want to use it. There have been quite a few instances of people being spied on after getting malware (a computer virus) on their machine.
- Even better: see if you can get your hands on a webcam cover, that slides back and forth, so that you don’t get sticky stuff on your screen.
Personal Data
- Never put your date of birth, home address or social insurance number online.
- Never upload a photo of your driver’s license, birth certificate, license plate, your badge for work, or anything else with personal information that is linked to your identity on social media or in an email. This information can be used to impersonate you, reset your accounts or make your life difficult.
- Don’t share sensitive information unless it’s directly with someone you trust (your employer, your spouse, your lawyer, etc.).
We invite you to follow along on this journey of securing your digital footprint with our next story, Part 2 — Not getting “Hacked”, 101.
Written by Nataly and Tanya.
