6 Easy Steps to Improve your Cyber Security

The more time we spend online, the more opportunities there are for hackers to carry out cyber attacks - mostly through email and website scams, or malware. And when hackers get into your device or account, they could access your money, personal or business information.

Cyber Aware, the UK Government’s advice on how to stay secure online, identifies 6 key actions that people can take to protect their information and devices.

Improve your password security:

1) Use a strong and separate password for your email – Your inbox contains lots of important information about you. So, if a hacker gets into your email, they could get into all your accounts that are linked to it. Create a strong email password and make sure it’s different to all your others.

2) Create strong passwords using 3 random words – Hackers can easily guess weak, short passwords. Use three words that are memorable to you, but are difficult to guess e.g. BlueJamDance, to make a strong password.

Hackers will try many different versions of words (Liverpool, L1verpool1, liverp00l!), so use three random words even when you need to add numbers or special characters e.g. BlueJ@mDance1.

3) Save passwords in your browser – Remembering passwords can be challenging because different websites have different rules. And it’s important to have separate passwords for your most important accounts like email.

Your internet browser will often give you the option to remember your passwords for you. This is a safe way to store your passwords, helping you to create stronger and different passwords without having to remember them all.

Add extra protection:

4) Turn on two-factor authentication (2FA) – 2FA is free. And it’ll stop hackers getting into your account, even if they have your password. 2FA (also known as 2-step verification, or multi-factor authentication) simply means you’ll be prompted for a second piece of information when signing into your account, usually a code which will be sent via text or email.

5) Update your devices – Tech companies are continually working to fix vulnerabilities in their software. So, when you receive prompts to update your devices don’t ignore them. They contain important fixes which will help keep hackers out. Turn on automatic updates to make things even simpler.

Make sure you can recover quickly:

6) Back up your data – Backups are best done at regular intervals, so you always have a recent copy of your information (e.g. photos and documents) saved if your data is lost or stolen. Good news: turn on automatic backups and your device will do the hard work for you!

To find out more about protecting your information and devices, or to test the knowledge you already click here.