With more and more users engaging with the Internet on a daily basis, the amount of data that is entering the worldwide web has increased drastically. Currently, the Internet is home to around 1 billion websites, each of which offering unique forms of data that can be used for marketing, information, and more.
Every time you click “agree” to the terms and conditions of a site or on your technology, you are likely agreeing to having some data be recorded by the website or company who makes the device. In some cases, this data may be sold or used for unknown purposes. Understanding the data on the Internet, along with how to protect the most sensitive information, can benefit any average computer user.
What is Data?
Data is a word that tends to be thrown around quite often today, but few people actually understand what it means. At its core, data simply refers to a sequence of information in the form of either a “0” or a “1”, known as binary. The specific sequence of these two numbers is processed by computers, which tells the computer what to do.
Data can be created by a user, software, or hardware. In the case of a user, creating data is as simple as clicking a letter on your keyboard. This letter corresponds to a certain binary combination, which your computer processes and reflects on screen as the letter you typed, all virtually instantly.
However, pulling back from this granular view, data is also information within the digital space. For example, credit card numbers, birthdates, legal names, and more are all examples of broader data as well. Every time you input your credit card number for an online purchase, that data is then computed, transmitted, and approved so that your purchase goes through. Ideally, the data is then scrambled so that nobody can steal your credit card numbers.
In some cases, though, hackers can breakthrough security protocols on websites and gain access to sensitive data such as the above.
What Does Data Protection Mean?
On a yearly basis, over 420 million individuals were affected by data breaches, going to show how important data protection is. Put broadly, data protection is the safeguarding of sensitive data from corruption and theft. Data protection spans three primary categories: traditional protection, data privacy, and data security.
Traditional data protection could include anything from backing up your data to the cloud all the way to the physical infrastructure that is in place protecting that data. On the other hand, data security and privacy refer to active threat monitoring, such as antivirus software, and legislation put in place to stop things such as the sharing of data between companies.
5 Methods to Protect Your Data
While the average person doesn’t have as much control over data privacy and security, traditional data protection is a category anybody can bolster. Use the following five tips to enhance the security of your data as soon as possible:
- Always keep passwords secure and unreachable
When it comes to keeping your passwords protected, ensure that you use an encrypted digital password protector or keep a physical copy of your passwords. When you get a notice from a company that your password may have been exposed in a recent data breach, it’s always best to change it even if it’s unlikely your password was a target.
For extremely sensitive passwords, such as banking passwords or corporate passwords, it’s always best to memorize the password instead of writing it down anywhere.
- Be cautious with free WiFi
Public WiFi networks, while usually safe, are often the target of hackers. Sophisticated hackers can take advantage of weaker security measures associated with public WiFi and essentially position themselves as a middleman. By accessing your banking records, as an example, the hacker can steal your information and then make it seem like the theft never occurred.
- Learn to recognize the signs of fraud
Email phishing is one of the most common types of scams seen today and can result in the loss of sensitive data. As a general principle, never give information to strangers or sites you aren’t confident about. If you are unsure whether or not a person is suspicious for a large data share, consider a background check. By understanding what information a background check can reveal about individuals, you can learn why a background check can keep you secure.
- Don’t overshare information about yourself on social media
Avoid sharing too much personal information on public platforms such as Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and others. You may inadvertently make yourself a target for hackers or scammers who are hoping to get money or information out of you. Keep as much of your life private as possible to avoid this.
- Look for signs that a site is secure
Secure URLs will always begin with “https”, with the “s” indicating that the site has an SSL Certificate for security. This means that data and information is encrypted as it passes through the site. However, also check to make sure the domain of the website is what it should be, as some scammers will take a popular domain and change a single letter to trick visitors. Additionally, use plugin security tools to evaluate the security of a site to ensure your data is protected at all times. In a worst case scenario, look up who owns the site to see if they are an accredited name.
Stay protected at all times
Ensuring the protection of your privacy on the Internet should always be a top priority. While it’s impossible to not leave any digital footprint behind nowadays, that doesn’t mean you should allow all your most sensitive data to be leaked. Take precautions against fraud and dive deeper into privacy laws to ensure that the websites you use are following all regulations. When it comes to the protection of your data, it’s impossible to be too cautious.
