I recently found out someone I really respect got majorly hacked – and there’s really no happy ending to the story. Tens of thousands of dollars spent dealing with the issue. Ongoing panic attacks. Loss of data/domain/etc. and, equally if not more important, her sense of security.
My heart breaks for her – and I’d like to try to make sure we all avoid this happening to us.
Data security is not my area of expertise. But here are tips/steps I’m taking:
Use a secure password manager and enable two-factor authorization for your password manager (and email and banks – see more below).
Change your Gmail account passwords – and use your password manager to generate new passcodes full of random letters and numbers – every 6-12 months. DO NOT USE THE SAME PASSWORD ACROSS APPS/SITES. Calendar reminders to do so.
Do the same for bank accounts and other highly-sensitive information.
Enable two-factor authorization for email and bank access, and from what I understand, it’s better to do so with an authentication app than a text message. It’s annoying but better to have those annoying extra steps than devastating, violating loss.
Put tape or a post-it note over your computer camera when you’re not using it.
Especially because this isn’t my area of expertise, please comment below with any additional security measures you take to protect yourself online. Stay safe out there, kids.
