13 ways to protect your account from hacking

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Keeping your personal data safe is easy: first, stop using password 12345 for all accounts. Then the matter is small.

1. Delete unused accounts

To ensure that active profiles do not suffer due to registration on resources that you do not use, always delete old accounts. The fewer active profiles, the better (if only because you don't have to keep a dozen logins and passwords in your head).

The same goes for apps you log into via social media. It's much easier to click on the "Login with Facebook" button than to go through the entire registration process, right? Keep track of who and on what terms you provide access to your profile data. And if you do not use the service, then delete the profile and then check if the site or application still has access to your personal data. You can check access to Facebook here, to your Google account here.

2. Set up a password manager

Programs like LastPass will not only remember logins and passwords for you, but will also generate new ones that are ultra-secure. And they will also prohibit using the same password for all resources at once. You don't do that, do you?

3. Use 2-Step Verification

An attacker, even having taken possession of a username and password, will not be able to log into your account without SMS confirmation if you set up double authentication. It is found in almost all Microsoft, Apple and Google products. The only inconvenience: even if you are not an intruder, you still have to enter the code from your phone every time to log into your own accounts.

4. Protect password change settings

How easy is it for an outsider to change your account password? For example, to reset your Apple ID password, you need to complete two-factor authentication or answer security questions. To recover your Gmail password, you need a mobile phone number or alternate email address. But all these settings must be specified in advance: enter an alternative email for safety net or come up with an answer known only to you to the security question. Right now.

If you are asked in questionnaires or comments: "What was the name of your first dog?" - keep silent like a partisan! In such a simple way, enemies learn the word codes for typical secret questions.

5. Check profile activity

Many services remember your activity, and in this case it's even good. This will let you know if someone else has used your account. And some services, like the same Gmail, send a notification to the smartphone and to the mail if they see that the account is entered in a region or country that is not typical for the user. You can check your profile activity on Google or Facebook.

6. Update programs more often

Outdated software is a source of problems and another loophole for a hacker. To make life more difficult for the offender, try to update the programs as soon as the corresponding notification arrives. Many services have brought this process to automaticity, so you do not need to dig into the settings in search of the "Find available updates" button. Just press the button you want when you receive an alert.

7. Change passwords regularly

It is normal practice to change passwords once a year. And do not be lazy to come up with more picky combinations. Modified old passwords are a bad idea.

8. Use a separate email for registrations

Create a separate mailbox for registration on all kinds of resources, including for social networks. And don't give it to anyone else. Let it be your secret box. And the second email can be safely indicated in work contacts or on business cards.

9. Set up remote control of your smartphone

Settings for iOS and Android devices allow you to block access or delete data from your smartphone remotely. A useful function if you irrevocably lost your smartphone or stole it.

10. Use a VPN

VPN is a useful technology that allows you to hide the real location of the user, to protect the data transmitted or received by him, as well as providing access to sites and services closed in the country. Always useful.

11. Set passwords on PC and smartphone

Like 2-Step Verification, this method adds extra steps. But, you must agree, you enter the password for your Microsoft account in three seconds, and attackers will have to tinker much longer. If your smartphone or laptop has fingerprint authentication, use it as an alternative to digital pin codes.

12. Do not share accounts with other users

If someone asks you for a smartphone or laptop "for a minute", let them use guest accounts. You can log in as a guest on Windows and macOS; not so long ago, Google and Apple introduced guest modes on smartphones. It doesn't take long to switch between guest and main profiles.

13. Follow what you share on social networks

Let the date of birth, address and mobile phone number be visible only to friends or to you alone. Do not share on social media that can be used against you. Also, do not make the name of your favorite football team a password if you trumpet about it in every second post.