When it comes to the term hygiene, most people think of healthy habits like washing your hands regularly. However, in a digital world, you might encounter the term cyber hygiene, which has nothing to do with traditional hygiene.
In the case of cybersecurity, it is an ever-evolving scenario that requires you to keep updated with several systems and methodologies to ensure that your data remains private and protected.
So, cyber hygiene is about the favorable practices that internet users should perform. It promotes various habits that can make your online experiences safer and more private. Thus, let’s dig deeper into how you should interpret cyber hygiene.
What is cyber hygiene?
Cyber hygiene pertains to the state of cybersecurity or online privacy for any individual or organization. It is a set of habits, protocols, and software that they can use to secure their systems from hackers and other malicious entities. Good cyber hygiene entails keeping your databases secure and making it extremely difficult for any method to breach your digital security.
Poor cyber hygiene habits
Your cyber hygiene can be compromised through any of the reasons mentioned below.
Sharing sensitive information online
In most cases, it is the victim’s carelessness that lands them in trouble. Yes, sharing every aspect of your life with your loved ones or followers in today’s social media age is highly tempting. But sharing too much or too soon can let anyone track you with little effort. There have been instances when people were harassed by pranks from stalkers. After all, many personal details are available online. Thus, it is best to be conscious of what you post and what a vicious person could do with this information.
Visiting shady or unsecured domains
Visiting an unsecured website can be highly dangerous if you don’t have a virtual machine or operate a VPN. Such domains don’t offer the necessary encryption for your data, leaving them vulnerable to various attacks. Unsecured connections could allow perpetrators to perform different attacks, like man-in-the-middle, which means hackers position themselves in the middle of your connection.
Viruses and malware
Speaking of viruses and malware, those are the greatest threats to your cybersecurity. No matter what measures you have in place, some infections can wipe your system clean or encrypt all files.
However, the latest infections can also be secretive. Spyware is one of the terrifying examples that could lurk inside your system. Essentially, such software monitors you and sends all captured information to its operators.
Outdated software
Regardless of how careful you are, if you don’t upgrade your software, there can always be backdoors and loopholes that hackers could exploit without you knowing. The developers know what vulnerabilities they might leave within the system to make the launch date. Thus, it pays to trust their updated patches once they’re released.
Ways to upkeep your cyber hygiene
Now that you’re aware of the significant threats to your cyber hygiene, let’s look at the proven ways to make it healthier.
Set up a firewall
The firewall on your PC is the active defense that rejects any suspicious files or connections. Therefore, you should have a reliable antivirus installed and have it conduct thorough scans of your system from time to time.
Select complex passwords
The evolution of AI has given us plenty of benefits. Unfortunately, it has also been used for nefarious purposes. Hackers can use AI to guess passwords that are easy enough and are applied on domains without 2-factor authentication.
So, it helps to have a complex and unique password for every digital service you avail of. Try mixing and matching upper- and lower-case letters, numerals, special characters, and symbols from multiple languages.
Check all links before opening
Unknown links are a pesky problem to deal with. Someone can send you a link posing as a transaction confirmation, which can eventually drain your whole bank account if you’re not careful. Even if you receive a link from a trusted source, you should use a link checker tool before opening it. Be especially careful around shortened links as they conceal their actual destination.
Use a VPN
When connecting to unsecured Wi-Fi networks, use a Virtual Private Network to protect your connection and data from interruptions. A VPN encrypts your traffic, making it unreadable to any eavesdroppers. Furthermore, using a VPN for Windows is an excellent cyber hygiene habit. It makes you more private and anonymous online. Thus, you won’t have to worry about someone secretly monitoring your network and activities.
Last words
Overall, maintaining healthy cyber hygiene does not take much. Various tools and software can significantly assist you. Furthermore, you should know what dangers exist and what decisions might prevent them.
So, all you need to do is remain vigilant with your data and not share any information you may not want to be uploaded online.