Here’s the harsh reality of the digital world: no matter how careful you are about protecting your data, no device is 100% safe. As long as it’s connected to the internet, any device can theoretically be hacked, which could be really bad news if your sensitive info is out there (and let’s be real, it probably is.)
THAT BEING SAID, there are a few things you can do to prevent hackers from getting to your data. Let’s not make it easy for them. Here’s how.
PLEASE don’t use “password” as your password
Also, don’t use your birthday. Or 12345678. Konting effort naman.
A good password doesn’t have to be a meaningless string of numbers and symbols. Make your password easy to remember, but mix it up in with special characters so it’s just kinda easy to remember. So instead of using a password like baboyramo999, make it to b@b0yr@m0999.
Limit your logins to your personal devices as much as possible
You can never be sure how safe the PC you might be using, so don’t login to random computers, make sure it’s your own personal computer that you’re logging into!
Try to avoid using credit cards as much as possible — opt for digital codes or cash on delivery
As secure as some online merchants say their platforms are, it’s better to err on the side of caution. Back in 2011, Sony had a network outage that resulted in a leak details of 77m users, including their credit cards. To avoid compromising your credit card info, opt not to use your credit cards. You could use apps like GCash and PayMaya, or prepaid eShop cards/digital codes (e.g. PSN, Steam cards).
When doing credit card transactions, try as much to buy from trusted sites and their official mobile apps
You know the trusted sites: Amazon, Shopee, Lazada, eBay (though you might consider this because you can get scammed by the seller here). All of them also have their own app equivalent.
When doing bank transactions, use the mobile app instead of the website
Because computers are vulnerable to spyware, doing banking transactions is much much safer on mobile apps because all the data you input is encrypted (especially if you are an iPhone user).
If you want to share your password with a family member, change it to a temporary one then change it back to a new one or the original one
Let’s say your makulit brother wants to use your Netflix account but forgot the password. You can opt to change your password temporarily, share the password to your bro, tell him to tell you after he logs in, then revert your password to the original one. This is safer than sharing your permanent password because you’ll never know if he might share it with his friends… #TrustNoOne
Don’t jailbreak your iPhone
iPhones are very usually secure… unless you jailbreak it and put uncertified applications. Some of the reasons you might want to jailbreak your iPhone is to put weird apps you probably need in the future (or maybe sketchy games you want to play on the go). But my advice is: don’t do it, because if you don’t jailbreak your phone, you’re very most likely secured (in fact, your personal iPhone data is encrypted).
Always opt for two-factor authentication
This means that if you successfully log in to an account, you’ll get a text to confirm if that’s actually you logging in. The extra step might seem like a hassle, but it’s better to be safe than sorry! (Although teaching this to elderly people is another thing…)
Got any other cybersecurity tips? Share ’em in the comments section!
