Improve Your Security and Privacy By Doing This

The internet is widely used worldwide where there are 4.95 billion people around the world using the internet as of January 2022 – which is equivalent to 62.5 percent of the world’s total population (DatarePortal). Most of us are living virtually where we can work and study using the internet, connect with other people all over the world and do whatever we want using the internet.

Somehow, it shows how the world is globalized and developed each year with the help of technology. However, if we will talk about money and the internet, it can give us a different perspective; either good or bad.

As the number of people involved on the internet increases, the number of scams victims and fraud also increases (CNBC News). Since most of us are working and using the internet, we are all prone to hacking and investment scams despite our carefulness. Hence, it is better to start improving your security and privacy during your online activities.

Use password manager

The best way to keep your password safe and difficult to crack is using a password manager. It is like a vault where you are the only one that can access it. Unless you gave your password to someone. It is better if you will use a password manager so you can manage and compile all of your passwords in one place. 

I, personally, use a password manager. I am using Bitwarden which compiles all of my passwords from my account. I am not memorizing any password except the Master password in my Bitwarden account. This app has a password generator where it produces random characters that will serve as your password. By that, potential hackers and scammers will have a hard time knowing and cracking your password.

Furthermore, the downside of using a password manager is that when someone knows your master password, they can open your account and look for the passwords inside the app.

Never use one password in all of your accounts

I believe everyone had an experience where they use one password in all of their account such as (e.g password? password123, pogiako69). But these passwords are very common and easy to crack. 

The reason why you should not use the same passwords in all of your accounts is to minimize the risk when someone learned about your password. If they know your Facebook password and you have the same credentials on Twitter, there is a chance that your account will be in their possession again. 

I have tried this way before until I realized that I can use a password manager to manage all of the important things online.

Write your seed phrase in a notebook

Most of the people who are into crypto know about this and the importance of seed phrases. It is more likely the key or password to access your non-custodial wallet where the person who has it can have access to their assets. This is why you need to secure and make your security since we are talking about money and investment.

I write my seed phrases in a notebook and keep them in a safe place in our house. I used to save them in my notepad but I realized how prone it is to hacking and risk. Hence, I decided to delete all of my seed phrases on my phone and wrote them in a notebook instead. By this, there is a lower chance of losing your assets. 

Never click suspicious links

I care a lot about my security in my online activities. This is why I always make sure the link that I am clicking isn't suspicious and doesn't look odd. There are times that people are using link shorteners like Bitly to hide the natural look of the link. 

I am not clicking links directly unless I trust its domain name where you can directly see unless they use a link shortener. What I am doing is copying the link, then pasting it on virustotal.com. I am not sure if this platform works accurately and is real but I saw this one before and I learned that we can see some hidden codes and suspicions on the link/website. Somehow, I feel that it shows accurate information and I continue to use it.

Never trust easily

Most of the scammers are targeting vulnerable people. They are usually low-tech people. Scammers have powerful words that can control you without your prior knowledge. You will not realize that you are being manipulated by them until you got scammed and lost your account or asset.

I know this because I was a victim of scams. Trusting people on the internet shouldn't be like ABC, assess the person that you are talking to before trusting them. 

Conclusion

In my opinion, despite having fully secured activities online, we are all prone to risk, and safety has no place on the internet. What we can do is manage the risk and be more careful. 

Bad people on the internet are desperate to victimize a person and you are not an exception.

Published: April 4, 2022