5 Essential Tips to Stay Safe Online

Every other day there’s a scam, hack or data breach being reported, which could put you at risk if you tend to use weak passwords, and even worse, if you share the same password across accounts.

If you’ve been putting off doing some tech housekeeping, but need a push, here are five essential tips you can use as a checklist to protect yourself and stay safe online.

1. Use a Password Manager

Whether you’re on Android or iOS, both operating systems offer a password generator and we suggest using a service you already trust. Android does it via Chrome, which saves to Google Password Manager, and iOS does it via Safari using iCloud Keychain.

The longer and more obscure your password is with special characters and numbers, the more difficult it is to crack. You don’t even have to remember it because your phone does, which is accessible only after authentication like a passcode or biometrics.

And key to this point is not using the same password everywhere; it is dangerous because if one account gets compromised, all your other accounts become vulnerable. If you think you’re not affected, put your email into the haveibeenpwned website and you may be shocked.

2. Use Multi-factor Authentication

Given how often private data with login credentials appears on the dark web after a data breach, it is imperative you use two-factor or multi-factor authentication. Accessing your accounts via a username and password is simply not good enough anymore.

MFA or 2FA provides additional layer of security, such as a one-time PIN, answering a secret question, and using biometrics or a hardware key. Avoid SMS as SIM cards can easily be cloned. One time PINs are a unique identifier that should not be shared under any circumstance. You don’t know if that friend, family or colleague is an impersonator.

Whatsapp impersonation scams are a problem in South Africa, and why you need additional layers to protect your account. Turn on two-step verification by creating a PIN, and adding your email as backup; create a Passkey; and use the App Lock function with biometrics whenever you open the app.

3. Don’t Click That Link

Phishing scams guilt you into clicking a link to share sensitive data. Use common sense when you receive emails and SMSes prompting you to take “urgent” action.

Banks have been reminding us for years that they do not ask you to verify personal information over email, and the same goes for SARS, clothing accounts, and courier companies. No entity will ask to confirm your login credentials or bank accounts.

If you need to visit these sites, type the URL yourself that begins with “https”; the s means it’s secure. If you need to make a payment online, check if website is encrypted, which you can tell by the lock symbol.

Beware of paying “small fees” to courier companies, which seems to be on the rise. The small fee is a distraction so you don’t think twice, but the scam is getting access to your credit card info on a fake landing page. If you placed an international order, make sure the email references your order number and it’s from a verified source.

4. Keep Devices Updated

You may not thing much about it, but it is important to update your smartphones and devices regularly as they contain crucial security patches, which makes it more difficult for hackers to exploit you.

Also security updates can enhance your phone’s performance, and also make sure it is compatible with your bank, social media or any other apps that has issued a fix. Another advantage of being up-to-date is getting access to new features from the services you use, and to be compliant with any new standards.

5. Review Privacy Settings

Apps are constantly updating their privacy settings as new laws come about so it’s important that you go through these individual settings from the services you use.

When you are travelling, you don’t want to share personal or location information to the wrong crowd, unwittingly. And If you’re joining a new social network, review their privacy settings. You must be in control of how your information gets shared online, and who can see your updates. It is not uncommon to make social accounts private anymore.