A laptop on a chest of drawers being wiped clean

Your digital hygiene: Are you really as clean as you think you are?

Just like brushing your teeth or washing your hands regularly, cyber hygiene should be second nature to most of us – except that it’s not. What most people think is sufficient will hardly protect you against the advanced nature of cybercrime, a constantly changing threat.

Cyber hygiene involves cultivating habits that keep your digital life healthy and secure. In our highly connected world, you want peace of mind so that you can prevent or quickly detect and fix problems with your devices. Cyber hygiene is crucial for individuals and organisations, as it serves as the first line of defence against a wide range of cyber threats including data breaches, malware and phishing attacks.

Just like personal hygiene helps prevent illness, good cyber hygiene practices prevent security vulnerabilities from being exploited.

Evolving threats need better defences

Unfortunately, what worked before is no longer sufficient because of the increasing complexity and sophistication of cyber threats. In the early days of the Internet, simple antivirus software and password protection were often enough to prevent cyberattacks.

However, the digital landscape is now filled with advanced threats such as ransomware, deepfakes, AI enhanced phishing and zero-day exploits – the latter leaving vendors no time to prepare patches, as the vulnerabilities are exploited immediately upon discovery.

As more devices connect and remote work spreads, cybercriminals gain more entry points to exploit. This makes it essential for individuals and businesses to adopt more comprehensive, layered security measures including multi-factor authentication (MFA), regular software updates and monitoring.

What makes strong cyber hygiene?

Good cyber hygiene starts with anti-malware software and regularly updating your software.

Next, you need to use strong, unique passwords. Be deliberate about creating long, unique passwords for each account and use a password manager to store them securely. (Most password managers will generate strong passwords for you.)

Next, enable multi-factor authentication. Traditional MFA typically requires a password plus a second factor, such as a code sent to your phone via text or generated by an app. However, this method is vulnerable to phishing attacks, where someone tricks you into revealing your code.

Phishing-resistant MFA provides stronger protection by employing methods that are difficult to intercept or replicate, such as physical security keys or biometric authentication (fingerprints or facial recognition). With these methods, only you can log in, even if someone gets your password.

Lastly, be cautious about sharing personal information over the phone or online, especially on social media or unfamiliar websites. Combine this with regularly backing up your important files to a secure location such as an external hard drive or a reputable cloud service, and your digital hygiene will be significantly improved.

What does poor digital hygiene look like?

One of the laziest habits I’ve encountered is using the same password across all accounts – often something predictable like a pet’s name plus a birth year. While this may not be critical for news websites, it’s a major risk for important accounts. Your email, social media, work and financial accounts truly require unique, strong passwords coupled with MFA.

I once heard someone say they didn’t mind if cybercriminals hacked their email account because they “had nothing to hide”. This misses the point entirely. Not only can your email be used to reset passwords for your other accounts, but attackers can also exploit it to spread malware and launch attacks against people in your network who trust you.

Anna Collard

Senior Vice-President: Content Strategy

KnowBe4 Africa

Image credit: Freepik

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