The idea of someone invading your privacy, compromising your identity and stealing your data might be frightening. The truth is that many people are learning startling new information about hacks and data breaches every day. If you want to protect what’s most important to you, then read this post about how to guard against data breaches.
A data breach is when your data is unexpectedly released. If you have been a victim of a data breach, you are in for some unpleasant surprises; however, it is not the end of the world. There are some steps that you can take to guard against data breaches so that this doesn’t happen to you.
1) Back up your data
The first thing that you can do to guard against data breaches is to take regular backups of everything that you have. You don’t need to have a perfect backup; however, you must have enough to be able to recover from something like accidental deletion or a forced reset. Even Google and Microsoft cloud services recommend that you make separate backups of your data using services such as www.avepoint.com.
2) Keep your passwords secure and change them often
Passwords are the key to your personal information. If you have a good, strong password, then it will be very difficult for anyone else to get access to your data. There are several different ways of ensuring that you have a good, strong password. One of these methods is the use of a passphrase or phrase. This is simply two or three words that are put together to create one long password that can be remembered easily by someone who knows what the words mean. For example, if you have a short phrase such as “I like music,” then you can just substitute all the consonants for numbers and symbols.
3) Use Two-Factor Authentication
When you use two- or multi-factor authentication, you add an extra layer of protection to your account. This requires the user to provide two or more pieces of information before they can get into their account. A password is just one example of what could be used as the first factor; however, other factors can be used as well, such as pictures, fingerprints, and voice recognition. Two-factor authentication is really just a way to make sure that even if someone gets a hold of your password, they won’t be able to do anything with it unless they have something else about you that only you know.
4) Keep your guard up and be suspicious of everything
When you are the victim of a data breach, the people who did this may continue to try to do more damage. The only way to protect against this is by being aware of what’s going on around you. Unfortunately, this isn’t as easy as it might sound. You can’t just assume that everything is going according to plan all the time. For example, if you log into a website and it looks a little different than it usually does, then perhaps there has been a data breach; however, if you are in doubt about whether or not there was a data breach, then try logging on from another computer just in case.
Data breaches are a serious threat. You need to be careful about every little detail in your life. If you don’t, someone could steal your data, and you won’t even know that it happened.
Article by Vishal
Meet Vishal Gaikar, the tech wizard hailing from Pune, India, who's on a mission to decode the digital universe one blog post at a time. When he's not tinkering with gadgets or diving deep into the digital realm, you can find him concocting the perfect cup of chai or plotting his next adventure. Follow his tech escapades on Twitter and buckle up for a wild ride through the world of innovation and geekery!
