Over the last few years, the internet and how you use it have changed rapidly. You’re now more networked than you’ve ever been before, with your wallets and online identities spread across dozens or hundreds of cloud databases and physical servers. You’ve spread pieces of yourself and your assets across hundreds of different digital spaces behind countless different firewalls, all with varying security protocols and, sometimes, with frighteningly little security at all. The world’s abuzz with talk of tracking cookies, but those are barely an introduction to the many dangers that await users of the new internet, especially those who conduct any kind of business online. Not engaging is not an option, however. Fear doesn’t help. What does?
Have Good Security Hygiene
This is a whole host of basic best practices that includes advice on how to engage with two-factor authentication, as well as bog standard password advice: passwords should be strong and unique, you shouldn’t be using the same passwords for multiple websites, you should update passwords regularly, etcetera. Most of these have been reiterated to you so many times you’ve stopped noticing them, but maybe you should take notice of them again.
The new internet is so broadly dispersed that small-scale security breaches have begun to occur more often, and you won’t always be notified. Weaker passwords are easier to breach, and the first thing a hacker (or a well-programmed bot) does once it has your password is to try it on as many different sites as possible. If you use one password for everything, you might learn the hard way why the bog standard advice is what it’s always been.
Using two-factor authentication helps defend against this. There are tiers of security here, too. Having a code texted to your phone is good. Using an app installed on your phone is better. Using a dedicated physical key that connects to your computer’s USB is the new, best tier of security.
Keep your computer’s security software updated. This should be happening automatically. Yes, it can be annoying when it downloads updates when you’re in the middle of something, but a security breach would be worse.
Encrypt What You Can
Trending advice this year is to keep your phone clear of apps that do things a browser can do instead. If you can access a site’s complete functions on your phone with your browser, you don’t need an app for that site, say the experts. This is because every app pulls more data and analytics from your phone, but also because browsers have specialized security measures and can be customized with plugins. Besides blocking ads and popups, this is also how to block a website[1] that is masquerading behind a fraudulent link and minimize cookies stored on your phone.
One good place you should use apps is in your messaging and business, where specialized encrypted apps keep your messages from being intercepted and read. Often, they’re even protected from the company that owns the app, which could otherwise be scanning what you send for analytics. Along the same lines, turn off ad personalization wherever possible, as this feature is essentially permission to analyze and sell your information.
Keep Security In Mind
These are just basic steps to get you thinking about your security on the new internet. Just like you learned not to click links and attachments in phishing emails, you’ll gradually learn what to watch for and how to take little steps that keep you safe. It’s not about being afraid of what might be lurking in the cookies. It’s about knowing what to do in case something is lurking and making sure that it doesn’t have the teeth to catch you if and when it bites.