5 Personal Cybersecurity Resolutions for 2021

People have been making resolutions for the new year for as long as they have celebrated the coming of a new year.  While you may have good goals for 2021 regarding your health, your work, or your budget, consider making some important resolutions regarding your safety online.  Here are five cybersecurity resolutions we recommend you add to your list this year, open the document for more detail:

• I will increase my password security.

Research shows people believe cybersecurity is important, but they often fail to take passwords seriously.  The most common password in 2020 (and in the past several years), according to Nordpass, was “123456”.  This year, use a unique and complex password for each account.  This is nearly impossible to manage in your head, so use a password manager to help.  There are many options like LastPass and Keeper, so do your research and spend the time to get it set up with all of your online accounts.

• I will use email carefully.

The most common way ransomware and other cybersecurity attacks succeed is through an email message.  Familiarize yourself with the red flags common in emails likely to infect your machine and compromise your data: urgency, requests for personal information (like login information or account numbers), unprofessional email tone or layout, etc.  If an email asks you for information or to click on a link, be very suspicious!

• I will back-up my important data.

This is the year to get important information off of your devices and backed up into a more secure location.  From sentimental family photos to important banking and financial information, anything stored on your PC, phone, or other device is at risk of being lost forever if the device fails or is damaged.  Buying a relatively inexpensive hard-drive and moving everything onto it is a good starting place.  A more effective method for ongoing backup of your information is to automate the backup process.  Whether to an external drive or to the cloud, automation ensures a consistent update to your backed-up files.  There are many options, and pricing changes based on frequency and the size of your files.

• I will keep the software on my device up-to-date.

Software providers update their product for a reason, and failure to stay up-to-date opens the door to performance and security issues.  While it can be inconvenient to wait for the update to run and to adjust to the changes made to software as it is improved over time, the security of your data is too important to neglect this ongoing task.

• I will be careful about what I share online.

Your social media account is a potential treasure trove for hackers who are looking to access your online accounts.  Your birth month, your high school mascot, the name of your pet, your favorite food – these seemingly harmless answers to fun surveys populate your feed with answers to your online security questions.  And although this post is mostly about IT security, don’t forget about physical security.  When you announce to the world that you are on vacation by posting pictures of your daily travel plans, you also announce to the world that no one is home tonight.

Cheers to a fruitful 2021!  Stay safe!