5 Ways to Avoid Hacking and Identity Theft

Hacking. It seems to us that this happens only with companies, government officials and famous people. However, an ordinary person may encounter this as well. Photographs of your child, relatives, travel videos – all these precious data can disappear in an instant. Hackers use different loopholes to gain access to your personal information. It is worth being careful when you walk around the Internet.

Step 1: Strong Passwords

You have probably heard more than once: set complex passwords for important accounts! But it is very important. Attackers can gain more power over you if they take over, for example, a page on social networks.

So, many of us met with requests to borrow money from our friends, but in the end, it turned out that the attackers wrote it.

It’s not enough to come up with a complex password. For each service, for each of your accounts, there must be a unique password that cannot be cracked by crackers.

Step 2: 2-Step Verification

When you use your accounts from different computers, especially when it comes to computers in public places, you are especially vulnerable to hackers.

Many services support two-step authentication. For example, Google. Such protection implies that you do not need to know the password to log in. You will need to pass one more check: enter the code from SMS, confirm the identity in the application on your phone, etc. This will significantly increase your security on the network.

Step 3: Do not Share Your Data

The reality is that you need less to share your personal information. You do not need to once again disseminate information about yourself like the date of birth, year of release, maiden name, pet names, etc. This does not mean that you need to completely hide your presence on the Internet, but be careful when sharing with a large number of people some details from your life.

Step 4: Delete Unnecessary Files

on various sites. How often did you enter information about yourself? Date of birth, date of the wedding, etc.

Sit down and think about your online life. Where did you register? What services do you no longer use? Delete accounts that you no longer need.

Step 5: Backup

Digital data is a very fragile thing. They are extremely vulnerable, there is always a risk of their loss. You can become a victim of hacking your computer, phone, recovery from which will require a complete reinstall of the system, which will lead to the loss of all the data that you had. Use external hard drives or cloud storage to back up important data.

The identity theft protection requires your time, energy and money. But hacking can provide access to your personal data: photos, videos, e-wallets, etc. Take care of your safety on the Internet.

So, before you download very serious anti-virus programs and rootkit protection, first follow these simple rules. This will not only reduce the chance for hackers to steal data but will restore order in your computers. Well, after that, feel free to choose your favorite software and install it on devices.