How to Protect Your Devices in 2022

Here are the basic tips on how you can protect your digital devices from cybercrime.

Data protection has become a major issue these days. Technological advancements have made it easier to secure data in just a blink of an eye. There are numerous ways to keep your data secure when surfing online.

Technological advancements and cybercrimes go hand in hand. Unprotected data is bait for cybercriminals. Looking at the severity of cybercrimes, it becomes even more important to keep the credentials safe.

You don’t need to be tech-savvy in order to protect your devices. You just need to know about some security apps and how to use them. Here are some tips to protect your devices online and maintain proper cyber hygiene.

1. Use Unique and Complex Passwords 

While initiating anything, you need to build the base, and here, in the case of device protection, you need to build the first line of defense using a strong and unique password. 

A strong password consists of alphabets, numbers as well as special characters which will make the password impossible to guess. Avoid using your birth date, or your anniversaries, they can be guessed easily. Never use the same password more than once because it can be accessed through web cookies.

Remembering all these passwords can be a troublesome task, so you can use a password manager to save all your passwords. The use of trusted password managers will help you to keep your passwords secure, most of these password managers suggest strong and complex passwords which are extremely hard to crack. 

This prevents your device from getting attacked by malicious activities and secures your device properly.

2. Keep your system up to date and follow good cybersecurity practices

You must have seen that your phone frequently shows notifications about new updates available. While updating your phone frequently can be annoying, those updates are very important. These updates contain security patches that fix security vulnerabilities in your device. So do not ignore them, update your devices regularly to keep them safe from security vulnerabilities.

You should also install some security apps, for example, an antivirus can identify malicious apps and will notify you as soon as possible. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) can also help in securing the device from hackers by hiding your IP address when surfing online.

3. Using Common Sense

Just using tools and software isn’t enough, you also need to stay alert and keep your eyes and mind open. Keep an eye on the emails that look authentic but have vague links attached to them. Your bank will never ask for your sensitive information over email or text, so watch out for these types of emails.

In the same manner, if someone calls and asks permission to access your PC in order to rectify some error, just do not allow that person. This is the most common technique used by spammers to access somebody’s system and hack their data.

4. Ensure a secure payment method while shopping online

Look for the web addresses that say “HTTPS” and not just “HTTP”. The ‘s’ stands for “secure”. This takes you to a secure page for online payment. Avoid using public WiFi from coffee shops, it might put your account in danger. Instead, you can use cellular networks so that your information is not leaked on a public server.

It is usually advised that you use your default web browser because it is more secure as compared to third-party web browsers.

5. Use two-factor authentication

You should always turn on multifactor authentication which is a more secure way to access your online accounts. It enables you to not only enter the password but also send an OTP (One-time password) to your registered mobile number in order to confirm your identity. 

This is a newly introduced technique that provides an additional layer of security. Almost every major social media website recommends two-factor authentication. But it should be kept in mind that if someone asks for your OTP, never share your one-time password, unless you know the person. No bank asks for sensitive details like OTP or Credit card Pin via phone call. 

Multifactor authentication has heightened security to another level and made the devices more secure than before.

6. Keep your data backed up

You never know when your data might get corrupted, so always keep a copy of your data so that, in case of any kind of mishap if your data is lost, you can get your lost data back using the backup you already have.

7. Avoid downloading apps from unknown websites 

Software or apps can be downloaded from a lot of different sources. At times, people tend to download these programs from unknown sources just because they offer free versions. Do not download apps from such websites, you might end up downloading malware instead.

You should always download programs from trusted sources such as official app stores. They offer verified and secure software which do not pose threat to your device.

8. Keep gaming phones separate

In order to keep your device and data secure, prefer keeping games on one phone and data on the other. This way there will be no unknown malicious attack on your important device and your data will also remain safe. 

If keeping two devices isn’t an option then try not to download games from unknown sources, only download games from the official app store of your device.

9. Install proper antiviruses

In order to protect your device from malware and other threats, it is important to install a trusted antivirus. Some antivirus programs use artificial intelligence to prevent unknown sources from accessing data on your device. When choosing an antivirus, you should look for the following features:

• Web protection
• Firewall
• Rootkit removal
• Ransomeware protection
• VPN  (optional)

You can go with any antivirus of your choice, just remember to check the above-mentioned features.

Conclusion

The world has undergone massive digitization after the pandemic and it has become more important to secure the devices from any kind of cyber-attacks out there. By using the correct tools, you can protect yourself and secure your devices online.