8 Tips for Data Protection
Managing your personal information well protects you from potential risks. Examples of digital dangers include data leaks, identity copiers, and malicious social media reviewers. The digital hazards list can be extended further. But you don't need to lose hope, you can manage your data. Let's look at 8 ways to improve your privacy on the internet.
1. Evade tracking
When you visit a website, your browser discloses a bunch of stuff about you and your surfing history. Marketers use that information to profile you and target you with ads. Incognito mode can’t really prevent such tracking; you need to use special tools. You are most often tracked online with your IP address and emails. Every site you visit online tracks the time you spend there and leaves what is called "cookies" on your computer. Also known as 'HTTP cookie', 'web cookie' or 'browser cookies'. After accepting a cookie, they remain like small crumbs on your machine and follow everything you do. This allows you to log in to previously viewed websites without having to manually enter a password and username each time. Keeps you signed in or your data is pre-filled before you sign in. This is a way for companies to see what items you view while shopping or what articles you read on a news site or what you research on any given day. Companies and organizations use this method to determine how they interact with you and what products they sell to you.
2. Check social privacy settings
Having an account on social networks means that these networks have a lot of information about you. You may be surprised to see this information available to anyone on the internet, according to the default settings. The information we enter while subscribing to social networks and the posts we regularly make are more important than we think. : Malicious hackers collect information about you before they attack you, the oldest known method they use when collecting information is 'social engineering'. The path to your Credit Card or Bank Account simply starts from your first-surname and date of birth. That's why your privacy is very important when using Social Media, we strongly recommend that you check your privacy settings.
3. Stay private on Wi-Fi networks
Public Wi-Fi networks often don't encrypt traffic. This can cause anyone on the same network to try to infiltrate your traffic. Login information, credit card data, etc. on public networks. Avoid transferring sensitive information and use VPN to encrypt your data and protect it from prying eyes. Thus, unauthorized listeners on unauthorized Wi-Fi hotspots cannot see your real internet traffic, capture their passwords, and hijack your accounts. If your employer or organization offers you a VPN connection, you can use it to secure your Wi-Fi connection and access the network remotely. But if such a VPN is not available, consider server services. You can use free software such as Hotspot Shield that provides Wi-Fi security.
4. Don’t use public storages for private information
Platforms where public posts are made are not limited to social networks. Do not store your personal data in online services for information storage. For example, Google Docs is not an ideal location to store your password list. Likewise, Dropbox is not the best place for your passport scans unless they are stored in a private archive. Do not use services for sharing to store your personal data.
5. Keep your main e-mail address and phone number private
What do you encounter as a result of sharing your e-mail address and phone number? Thousands of unsolicited e-mails in your e-mail inbox and hundreds of automated calls on your phone… Even if you have to share this information with internet services and online stores, don't share it with anyone on social networks. You can also consider using a separate, erasable email address and, if possible, a separate phone number.
6. Use messaging apps with end-to-end encryption
Today, communication is provided by messaging on computers, tablets and phones. Millions of messages take place during the day. Do you really know what happened to the messages sent while reaching the other person? Are you sure that third parties do not read our messages in an age of data storage and internet surveillance? Many applications seeking solutions to these questions resort to end-to-end encryption solutions. In this way, the service provider cannot store copies of the messages you send on their servers and only the recipients can access the messages.
7. Use secure passwords
In the periodic password change rule, which is one of the traditional methods, it is aimed to lock the account that the attacker obtained his password at the end of the period, but since the users usually change only a few characters in the new password, the attacker who holds the old password will not be difficult to break the new password. Periodic password change, that is, the renewal of the password of the user every few months, has been discussed for a long time, which makes it much worse than strengthening the password security. At the same time, it is recommended to remove the rule of the periodic password change in the report published by NIST last June.
There is not much difference between using weak passwords to protect your confidential information and telling someone who passes this information. Although it is almost impossible to memorize long and unique passwords for all the services you use, it may be enough to keep only one master password in mind if you use a password manager. You can also keep your password safe by using different passwords for each service, not repeating your old passwords, choosing long and unpredictable passwords.
8. Review permissions for mobile apps and browser extensions
Most smartphone users complain that app developers regularly collect data from phones through apps. But most people who complain about this data curation of app developers never review app permissions. You must allow the app for any app developer to access your information. For example, you downloaded an SMS application. When you want to send a photo through this application, the application will ask for permission to access the gallery or the camera of the device. If you wish, you can use the feature by giving permission, or you can disable this feature by not allowing it. Because some apps can't really work without these permissions, but some use this information for marketing purposes (or for worse purposes) to profile your profile. Fortunately, it is relatively easy to control which apps are given which permissions. The same is true for browser extensions with malicious spying trends.
Staying safe and maintaining privacy while on the internet is now as important as shutting and locking your front door. Employing all the above steps will help improve your protection while online so that it is close to impossible to hack into any accounts or connections to view a user’s sensitive data. Protection of personal information is vital not only for individuals but also for institutions. Check out our information security trainings to increase your company's information security and take the necessary measures!