When was the last time you had a digital spring clean?
I remember before Diwali every year my grandmother used to give the whole house a thorough scrubbing. Strictly speaking diwali isn’t the spring, but it’s still a good idea to look at your digital life periodically and give it a good dusting off.
Over time we tend accumulate all sorts of digital paraphernalia: accounts that we set up for just one use; multiple email addresses some of which aren’t used; passwords in different places we may have forgotten about. All this paraphernalia could make you vulnerable unless you take steps to declutter.
In this day and age when we all hear about online identity theft, phishing attacks, hackers taking over machines and holding them to ransom, a digital spring clean once in a while is a good idea. Here are some of the things you can make part of your digital cleansing –
Check and change your passwords:
First, you need to ensure you’re not using the same password on multiple internet accounts. Second, you need to use a long, complicated password. Perhaps the best way to manage your password is to use a password management tool. These tools will suggest a strong, random password and you can also use them to change your password regularly. They also work across all your devices making password management a breeze.
Shut down unused accounts:
If you have any old accounts that you don’t use anymore – shut them down. Sometimes older sites might not have updated their security settings making them more vulnerable to attacks. If you’re not using it close it down.
Enable multi-factor authentication:
A lot of internet sites have multi-factor authentication. Simply speaking this means that before you can login to a site you will get a second code on a different device, via email or OTP. If your email, ecommerce site, online bank or any other account you have allows multi-factor authentication – turn it on now and don’t turn it off.
Update your software:
Make sure that your device’s operating system, software and apps are up to date. Especially if the software maker has released a security related update. Software makers are constantly discovering bugs and vulnerabilities in their programs and publish fixes as updates. Doing a quick check for new software and installing the updates is a good idea.
Check your device permissions:
Whether you’re on a desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile make sure you check your device settings. Some devices allow third-party software to change your device permissions or access certain personal data. You want to lock down your settings so that only you can install anything on your device and apps can’t change any settings.
It’s a good idea to brush off your digital life two or three times a year. This keeps things relatively up to date and also means it’s not too onerous. Performing this semi-regular hygiene is easier than you might think and will help keep you safer online.
(The writer is a digital strategy expert)
