The people who get hacked don’t stand on a street with a sign that states “Hack me, here’s all my personal information”, though in many cases it’s just as well that they do. Though hackers are unbiased about who they hack, they’re most definitely equal opportunists. If they see an opening, they’re going to take it, and they’re going to take it for all that it’s worth.
What does this mean for you? Are you an unsuspecting victim to the madness? Are you at risk for having all of your personal information, bank accounts, address, and name getting placed in the hands of somebody who has plans to use it against you? If you’re unsure whether or not you’re at risk, it’s safe to say that you probably are.
Luckily for you, there are measures that can be taken to save yourself from this happenstance. All it takes is changing or making a couple little habits, and you’ll be able to keep your identity all to yourself.
Don’t Use Password as Your Password
In order to keep yourself safe from the prying eyes and quick working hands of hackers, you need to get a little more creative and secure with your passwords. It’s not acceptable to use the word ‘password’ as your password. The same can be said for a lot of passwords. If your password is all lower case and doesn’t feature any characters in it, a hacker can hack you in minutes flat.
You’ll also want to use a different password for every account that you have online. There would be nothing worse than a hacker getting into one account and then being able to get into them all because you made it too easy for them. Try making your password a phrase, or just pick something unique with a variation of undercase, lowercase, numbers and characters.
Don’t Share Needless Personal Information
All the social media sites and the desire to connect has really created a culture that makes people want to put every tidbit of information about themselves up on an online platform. This is a terrible idea. While tempting, the world doesn’t need to know-nor do they care about your mother’s birthday and the exact place and time that she was born, and where she lives now.
The more information you put up about yourself on a public platform, the easier it is for a wide variety of hackers to scan your profile, see your interests, guess your password, steal your identity and ruin your life. Yes, it’s dramatic, but it happens.
If anything, you’ll want to limit the information to only stuff that needs to be shared. If you’re feeling overwhelmed at the fact that you might be at risk, relax. There are people who’ve got your back. As much as there are bad people in the world, the good people who want to help make all the difference. Watch yourself and you’ll be fine.
