In a day and age where technology has been embedded into our everyday lives, it is crucial to understand how to navigate the digital world safely. With digital technologies, we leave a digital footprint—a trail of information—vulnerable to cybersecurity threats.
What is a Digital Footprint?
A digital footprint is a trail of information you leave using technology. It can be seen as posting on social media, emailing, or shopping online. There are two types of digital footprints:
- Active Digital Footprints: the user deliberately shares information. This can be seen through newsletter subscriptions or registering on a website.
- Passive Digital Footprints: information is taken without user awareness.
Ways to Protect Your Digital Footprint
- Be cautious of using publically available WiFi or plug-in ports. These networks can be easily hacked, accessing data on your connected device.
- It is recommended to use a password manager. Using a different password for every login can keep a hacker or scammer from accessing your information on multiple platforms.
- Try to use a two-step login. This way, if someone is trying to access an account or unlock sources of personal data, they will be unable to do so.
- Update your software often, ensuring your computer is updated with the latest operating system software. If it is outdated, you allow your system to be vulnerable to new online threats.
- Back up your data on either a cloud platform or an external device. If a hacker compromises your device, you can preserve your digital assets.
- Agency offers a free dark web scanner that you can use to know if you have been a victim of this. Try using a dark web scanner. In doing so, you can see if there has already been a breach in data.
- Go on private or incognito mode. This disables cookies, making it more difficult for companies to aggregate information about you. They can still use device fingerprinting to tie your identity to your browsing history.
- You should delete old accounts and emails you no longer use or need. This way, there is less of a digital footprint that hackers can resurface and less information for them to exploit.
- Don’t go onto a site that you are unfamiliar with or that seems sketchy. There may be a presence of a cybersecurity attack that can latch onto your device after engaging with its page. If the website doesn’t have encryption, do not send money over the site.
- Use VPN. A VPN can protect your data and hide your browsing history and personal information from strangers. It protects your data from outside networks, applications, and the government.
Conclusion
Consider purchasing cybersecurity to protect yourself from the effects of cybersecurity threats. Agency offers personalized cybersecurity services so that you do not have to worry about the threat of viruses. A few services they offer include:
- 24/7 real-time monitoring and response
- VPNs
- Next-Gen Antivirus/EDR
- ID Theft Coverage
- Virus & Malware Removal
Protect yourself from online threats with the best cybersecurity tools. Learn how to navigate the digital world without leaving a vulnerable digital footprint.
