"America
must also face the rapidly growing threat from cyber attacks. Now, we know
hackers steal people's identities and infiltrate private emails…. We know
foreign countries and companies swipe our corporate secrets. Now our enemies
are also seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid, our financial
institutions, our air traffic control systems…. We cannot look back years from
now and wonder why we did nothing in the face of real threats to our security
and our economy."
The
above is an excerpt from President Obama’s State of the Union address last
night. Now, obviously, the American president is speaking in the context of big
companies, utilities and the government. But we’d be mistaken to not take this
as a call for personal security as well.
After all,
like a conventional war, collateral damage will certainly happen. So what can
you do to make sure your data doesn’t become a casualty?
1.
Keep your anti-virus software updated
In
cyberwar, malware will be the weapon of choice. And while we will certainly see
a plethora of zero-day attacks, updated anti-virus software will keep your
system safe from fallout damage after the fact.
2.
Use strong passwords
If
your email password is “password”, “qwerty”, or any other cliché example of
terrible security, you’re basically standing on Omaha beach in your undies. A
strong password should be at least eight characters long, involve lower and
upper case letters, have a couple numbers and preferably some kind of symbol.
Any hacker-wannabe can crack a password made of simple words, but it will take
even a supercomputer ages to crack a well-developed sting of characters.
3.
Use encrypted email
This
should go without saying, but a surprising number of people – especially those
using desktop email clients – don’t have any built-in encryption when they send
a message.
If
you’re using a web client like Gmail or Hotmail, check to make sure there is an
“https://” before the URL of your mail client. The “s” means you’re hidden
behind SSL encryption – the same thing your bank uses to keep your account
information safe.
Securing
a desktop client like Outlook of Thunderbird can be a little more involved, but
totally worth it. You’re going to want to secure the connection from your email
provider, your messages in transit, and messages stored on your computer. Here’s
an excellent write-up by PC World on exactly how to do that.
4.
VPN your connection
If you
hadn’t guessed, we’re big fans of VPNs. They really are the best option for
securing your online activity. Whether you’re sending emails, banking online,
or looking at cat pictures, a VPN ensures that nobody can see what you’re
doing. It accomplishes this by establishing a private connection between your
computer and the VPN server. Your data will be both encrypted and hidden in a
secure VPN tunnel.
The
best part is that it’s probably the easiest of the steps mentioned here. Just
download the client, pick a plan, and turn it on. Boom. Done. Whenever you want
to go under the radar, you only need to click a button.
There
are a ton of great VPN options out there, but we think ours is pretty awesome. Plus it’s free. Can’t
beat that.
Look, we don’t know if cyberwar is going to
break out in the next few months or the next few years. But experts agree that
it’s a matter of “if”, not “when”. So take our advice and be prepared!
