Technology continues to evolve and open extraordinary opportunities every day. However, it’s also opening equally extraordinary opportunities for bad actors banking on consumers’ casual security habits.
With the work and learn from home shift looking more permanent and cybercrime on the rise, it’s imperative to adopt new mindsets and put new skills in motion. The first step with any change? Admitting you may have a few bad habits to fix. Here are a few to consider.
7 Risky Digital Behaviors
- You share too much online. Oversharing personal information online is easy access for bad actors online. Those out to do harm online have made it their life’s work to piece together your personal details so they can steal your identity—or worse.
- You’ve gotten lazy about passwords. It’s tough to keep up with everything these days. We get it. However, strong passwords are essential. They protect your digital life—much like locks on doors protect your physical life.
- You casually use public Wi-Fi. It’s easy to do. If you are working away from home or on a family trip, you may need to purchase something, meet a deadline, or send sensitive documents quickly. Public Wi-Fi is easy and fast, but it’s also loaded with security gaps that cybercriminals camp out on.
- You have too many unvetted apps. We love apps, but can we trust them? Unfortunately, when it comes to security and privacy, apps are notoriously risky and getting tougher to trust as app technology evolves.
- You’ve gotten too comfortable online. If you think that a data breach, financial theft, or phishing scam can’t happen to you, it’s a sign you may be too comfortable online. Growing strong digital habits is an ongoing discipline. If you started strong but have loosened your focus, it’s easy to get back to it.
- You don’t layer up your protection. Even though you know that the Internet is full of various threats such as viruses, malware and spyware, you have not yet installed protection software. Consider adding comprehensive software (like RedFox Mobile Security) that includes virus and malware detection as well as privacy protection.
- You ignore updates. Those updates you’re putting off? They may be annoying, but most of them are security-related, so it’s wise to install them as they come out.
