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Everything you keep has a chance of being lost or stolen. Uninstall apps you don’t use, both on your phones and your computers. Delete files and e-mails you no longer need. Wipe and securely dispose of both electronic and hard copies.
Do a search of yourself to see what others find when they look you up. Click into the privacy section of your accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and other social media sites. Protect yourself by turning off settings that you don’t need.
Take a good look at your bank and credit card statements. There’s no need to shuffle through paper records if you don’t want to. Just pull out your phone and scroll.
Hunt down the source of anything suspicious, and then do yourself a favor by identifying recurring services you can cancel to save some money too.
It’s time. Sure, ‘badger95’ has served you well since high school, but it’s time for you to thank it and send it on its way. Any password that you use for more than one account needs to go. Ditto for any password shorter than fourteen characters.
Use unique and strong passwords for every site. Use passphrases instead of passwords to make them easier to remember and more secure. When possible, consider using a password manager and let it invent and remember strong passwords for you.
Haven’t used a website in a year? Don’t leave your account idle and your login credentials unnecessarily exposed. Close the account; attackers can’t compromise accounts that don’t exist.
Can’t remember what accounts you created? Check your spam folder for all those privacy policy updates and Christmas in July promotions.
For accounts that you do keep, be sure to enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). App-based is best, but text-based is better than nothing. Enable it everywhere you can and demand it everywhere you can’t. Your password will be stolen or guessed; that’s a given. When that happens, MFA might be the thing that saves you.
As we lay waste to our waste, a reasonable person could be forgiven for lying awake at night wondering whether they trashed something they actually need. The answer is backups, but backups are useless if they aren’t tested. Do backups, test restores, and practice your recovery procedures so that your first attempt will happen during calm, daylight hours and not at 2 a.m. during a real-world disaster.
If you’re stepping over piles of Palm Pilots you know the pain. Visit the Recycling Guide on the Zero Waste Marin web site for information on how to recycle your old technology. Don’t forget to wipe your data first before recycling.
Getting your analog and digital lives in order does more than improve your state of mind. It pushes back against the creeping fallout from your hectic daily routines. It eliminates dangers you might otherwise miss, dangers that can lead to compromise. Breaches are seldom the result of a single vulnerability. They arise from cascading failures.
Get your house in order and protect yourself so you can rest easy.
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