In today’s world, we’re always on the internet, checking our emails, posting food photos, stalking our exes or simply catching up with what’s happening around the world. As we get more and more connected to the internet, the dangers keep increasing with consequences like identity theft and loss of money being some of the scary occurrences.

Even with top-notch security, hackers have still managed to go through some of the world’s best companies, including Google, Apple and Facebook and as much as we cannot guarantee our safety online 100%, we can do better to secure our online presence across different platforms with a few different tips:

Set Up a Recovery Method

Almost all platforms you interact with allow you to set up a secondary email address or phone number as a recovery method. A recovery method helps you prevent any suspicious activities on your account or at least help you regain control of your account if it happens to be compromised.

Start off your week with tech news recap and trending conversations in your inbox

Enter valid email-id

Subscribe

I prefer it on Telegram

Get Two-Factor Authentication

To further cement your account from unauthorized access, it is recommended to set up two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication (2FA) provides an extra layer of security on top of your usual password, by requiring you to enter a specific code generated sent to either your phone number or through an authenticator app, when you attempt to login to a service.

A good number of platforms support 2FA, including popular ones such as WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. There are two ways to set up 2FA, either through your phone number or by downloading your preferred authenticator app but before you decide to go the app way, first ensure that the service you want to protect actually supports authenticator apps.

Use Unique Passwords

Something that may seem obvious but is actually a big issue with a lot of people. Due to laziness and maybe not wanting to ever forget their passwords, 65% of people (according to Google) reuse the same password for different services. The safer thing to do here is to have different passwords for different platforms and if that is too much to ask, take advantage of password managers.

Update Your Software

Interestingly, a good number of people do not update their apps and software. Why? Some don’t see the need to undertake such a draining task while others don’t have proper internet access that enables them to keep their software updated.

Regardless of the situation, you are in, it is important to keep your apps and software up to date as these updates usually contain security features that make it harder for hackers to access your data.