Here in the Digital Kleptos™ newsletter we’ve explored what can go wrong when businesses and individuals become targets of hacking attacks. This problem is a fact of modern life, and the damage can be devastating.
So what can we do to avoid it?
There are simple and effective steps you can take today to protect yourself online.
The Internet is beginning to feel like the Wild West, but you absolutely can achieve a meaningful level of online security. This doesn’t mean you’ve got to become a cybersecurity expert. It simply means choosing to become Brilliant At The Basics Of Cybersecurity.
The World has changed.
What kept us safe online 15, 10 or even 5 years ago — simply doesn’t work anymore.
But staying safe online doesn’t have to be hard or complicated. One by one, you can master The Basics, these fundamentals of cybersecurity:
✅ Create strong, unique, modern passwords for each online account.
Randomly generated, long passwords are very hard to guess or brute force. And if you use separate passwords for each account, one data breach won't take out your whole online life.
✅ Use a high-quality Password Manager to secure your online accounts.
Remembering long passwords is hard, but password managers like 1Password, BitWarden and Dashlane can securely store them for you so you don't have to memorize them.
✅ Use a DiceWare passphrase to lock your phone / laptop / tablet / workstation.
Passphrases are long passwords made of multiple words like "CorrectHorseBatteryStaple". They're easy to remember, but very hard to brute force or hack.
✅ Use a DiceWare passphrase to lock your Password Manager.
Same principle as the above point, but it's worth noting: you should only have to memorize a few passphrases—just to log into your devices and your password manager. That's it.
✅ Use Multi-factor Authentication for each online account that offers it.
If hackers get your password, but you have 2-factor turned on, they'll also need a code from your text messages or an authenticator app. And while that sometimes happens, it's a very tall order for your average cybercriminal.
We can thank The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) for this great advice.
Over the next 4 weeks we’ll explore each of these topics in detail, and provide useful suggestions about how to implement all of The Basics.
We know it can feel overwhelming.
But let’s start small and build from there.
You have the power to keep yourself safer online!
