With Christmas just gone, people will have received lots of tech gadgets and smart devices; everything from phones, laptops, tablets, internet tv streaming devices, smart TVs, and even kitchen devices such as smart kettles (tell your kettle to boil from the comfort of your armchair from an app on your phone!), coffee makers and toasters!
All of these things are connected to the internet and subject to hacking (recent news stories have reported smart home devices used to bring down websites). Most will require passwords and the first thing to do is change the default one supplied with the device for a more secure one. But with all of these devices along with online accounts for banking, shopping etc., do you just set them up all with the same passwords or use 2 or 3 spread out over all the devices? The answer is neither! To protect yourself and your devices online, each device and account should have their own unique password.
That said, how do you remember all those passwords? It seems much easier to use the same password for everything, but this isn’t secure, and puts you, your identity and personal data at risk. There is an easy way to manage all those passwords – use a Password Manager app that keeps all your passwords in one place and, you’ve guessed it, is secured with another password! All of the data is securely encrypted and as well as your passwords, you can safely store details of your bank accounts, credit cards and website logins.
Should you want a bit more added protection, you can also use VPN software (Virtual Private Network) to anonymise your IP (Internet Protocol) address – the address used to identity you on the internet. This is also encrypted allowing you to safely surf the net.
And don’t forgot, on devices such as laptops, tablets and phones, install anti-virus and anti-malware programs – and always keep them up to date.
As we spend a lot of time online and input our personal data in a variety of places, online security has never been more important. So investing in relatively affordable security software is a must to protect yourself and your personal information online, as well as those expensive smart devices.
