Every month, we hear about data breaches on some of the most used websites. Most of the time, small data breaches also occur. Is your privacy was breached? How do you know? And what can you do?
Thankfully, there is an easy way to know. Since all services require an email and a password for you to use them, you can check your email addresses and see which ones were compromised, when, on what website, and what information could have been stolen.
How to check if your email was involved in a security breach?
To get these information, use the website haveibeenpwned.com, put your email addresses, and check all the security breaches that affected your accounts. If you tend to change your passwords frequently, you may be safer than others. In case you forgot when was the last time you changed your passwords, it is safer to change it.
How to reduce the chances of having my data exposed?
To keep your data safe, you need to have a safe online behavior. I gathered 12 tips to help you stay safer online:
1- Do not use the emails that contain personal and/or professional details everywhere, have an email for fun, and an email for serious use.
2- Make sure to use a secondary email that is not used much, to secure your more active accounts and be able to retrieve them.
3- Do not use the same password everywhere, and make sure to change it frequently. If you are as forgetful as I am, keep a paper version of your passwords and update it regularly.
4- Check the websites you use carefully, make sure they are protected: if you see the lock icon and the https on the address bar, then the website is secure.
5- If you are sending sensitive data, as soon as you are done, delete the information to avoid the details getting to others in case of any future hacking. Request from your recipient to do so as well.
6- Add the minimum number of personal details, just the essentials, when using any website.
7- Use a browser add-on to check on the safety of websites, like Avira Browser Safety, so you land less on bad websites.
8- Do not download from shady websites, and check your computer all the time for viruses and malware.
9- Pay attention to the emails you receive, too many fall for scams and download malware by downloading content from spam. Even if the email says Apple, check the email address and more often than not, it will not be sent from Apple.
10- If you can afford it, buy an antivirus, Kaspersky have great products for very reasonable prices. If you cannot buy an antivirus, at least download a good one, like Avira, Avast or AVG, update them regularly and scan at least one a week.
11- Add antiviruses to your phone as well and choose carefully the apps you download.
12- Check haveiveenpwned.com regularly to see if your emails were compromised in additional breaches of security.
I wish you a safe internet trip!
Hopeful Fatalist 