by With digital technology at the center of our everyday lives, the amount of data exchanged online continues to increase.
It’s actually not that surprising that consumer interest in the best VPN services is high everywhere. Governments around the world are also setting up new rules for how such sensitive information should be stored, used and shared.
New data laws such as the EU GDPR are a significant step, but they are not enough. That’s partly because cyber attacks are also on the rise. Even worse, evidence actually suggests how home devices are now the top target.
On the occasion of the annual Data Protection Day, we share nine tips on how to stay safe online and ensure your anonymity when your data is compromised.
As Vaibhav Antil CEO of Privado, one of the best free VPN providers around, said, “Data Privacy Day gives us all an opportunity to take a second and think about what we share about ourselves, when and where we share it, and who we share it with.”
1. Take the time to read the privacy policy
Despite many cases of companies mishandling users’ data, most still do not take the time to carefully check the privacy policy before agreeing to the terms.
According to a 2019 Pew Research study (opens in a new tab), only 9% of Americans actually do. A similar scenario emerged from a survey (opens in a new tab) conducted by cyber security audit firm Deloitte as well. Here, over 90% of respondents admitted to consenting to legal terms and conditions without reading them.
It is true, these guidelines are often very long and difficult to understand. This makes it a difficult task to read the terms and conditions of every service and app we access online.
However, understanding how organizations use your information is the first step towards a more private online life.
Being aware of how your data will be processed is essential to staying on top of your digital life. It will also allow you to better choose the services you wish to subscribe to.
Indeed, the growing need for users to understand privacy terms is pushing some major tech firms to simplify theirs for better transparency.
Apple added privacy labels to the App Store to help users make informed decisions in 2020, for example. Google Play followed a year later.
2. Protect your browsing activities with a VPN
Short for virtual private network, a VPN is software that spoofs your IP address. At the same time, it encrypts all the data that leaves your devices inside the VPN tunnel.
Because of how it works, a VPN is the tool you want to secure your online anonymity against both cybercriminals and the prying eyes of the government. Using such a tool is especially important when you are connected to an insecure public Wi-Fi network, as this is more vulnerable to attack. A torrenting VPN is also important for safely downloading files from the internet.
In addition to privacy protection, these security services can also increase overall online performance in many ways. Check our explanation of all the main VPN benefits to know more. Our favorite provider on the market at the moment is ExpressVPN.
3. Consider other cybersecurity software
As online risks become increasingly diverse, so must the response of data protection software.
We recommend integrating the use of a VPN with other security software such as the best antivirus solutions and password management tools. Ad blockers are also essential if you want to stay private online.
The good news is that you don’t even need to have many different subscriptions these days. That’s because more and more vendors are now offering complete security packages instead.
Both NordVPN and ExpressVPN, for example, come with their own password managers and ad blocking features built into their VPN software. While Surfshark One is a versatile security suite that includes four cybersecurity tools with just one subscription. You can also check out our guide to the best VPN with antivirus right now for more recommendations.
4. Beware of free apps
Whether it’s a VPN, antivirus, online games or other apps, free services all have one thing in common: hungry for your data.
It’s simply because, since they don’t charge you any money for their services, selling your information to third parties makes up their revenue.
On this point, Andrew Newman, founder of cyber security firm ReasonLabs (opens in a new tab)said: “When people choose not to share their information privacy, you see companies like Facebook and Google lose billions of dollars as a result. This shows you how collecting such information is so valuable to these advertising companies.”
At worst, they can even infect your devices with malware. According to Newman, downloading free software is actually one of the main reasons home users get their systems compromised with viruses and other dangers in the first place.
5. Secure online accounts
Online accounts are without a doubt the front door to users’ most sensitive information. That’s why it’s crucial to make these logins as difficult as possible to compromise.
Securing your online accounts comes down to a number of steps. First, you need to use strong passwords which contains a mixture of letters, numbers and special characters. It is also important to never use the same password for different accounts. Again, using a password manager can help you with all of this.
You should also make login process more secure by activates multi-factor authentication (MFA). Since it requires you to prove your identity twice or more, this can prevent bad actors from accessing your profile. Already a common practice for securing your email account, for example, most social media platforms now also offer this extra layer of security.
You should also consider setting up login alerts to receive a notification each time your account has been accessed. This will make it easier to react quickly in the event of a breach.
6. Always keep all your devices up to date
Update after update, vendors can fix bugs and vulnerabilities on their operating systems.
For this, you should always ensure that you are running the latest version of your operating system at all times to minimize entry points for an attack and protect your data from cybercriminals.
7. Review the privacy settings on social and other apps
Similarly, privacy policies, it’s good practice to carefully review settings and permissions for all the apps running on your devices. You’d be surprised to see how much information they can access about you by default.
Similarly, we recommend doing the same with all your online profiles.
As a rule of thumb, you should keep these to what is strictly necessary for the service to function properly, especially on social media apps.
8. Be careful what you click
Phishing links, a tactic that involves spreading malware via malicious links and/or dangerous attachments, is one of the most common and successful ways to steal users’ sensitive information. Cybercriminals may aim to obtain your login information and then approach your contacts to launch scams.
These malicious links are often shared via DM and email, but they are also increasingly appearing on social media posts and comments. When the victim clicks on it, their account and/or device gets infected. Your data compromised.
Beware of links or attachments that seem too good to be true and encourage you to click or share personal details. You should always be aware of catchy and shortened links, especially when they are sent from suspicious accounts. Check out the source before clicking on it, and consider reporting messages that look suspicious.
9. Back up your data regularly
Finally, regularly backing up your data is your best bet for retrieving your information in case it gets lost when your device crashes, or worse, after a cyber attack.
Tactics such as ransomware or wiper malware represent a major danger to your files. Initially, you often cannot take back control of your data even after agreeing to pay. While the latter is a type of malware that deletes all the material on your device within a click.
So a regular backup on an external hard drive or encrypted cloud storage is the best defense against such malware.
