Tips for protecting your tablet, smartphone, computer

If the warming weather has you thinking about spring cleaning (or even if it doesn’t), don’t forget about digital cleaning. The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) remind everyone that there’s probably a bunch of digital data clutter that lives on your electronic devices.  It can expose you to identity theft, credit card fraud, and an increasing assortment of cybercrimes that can thoroughly disrupt your finances and other aspects of your life.

The NCSA and BBB offer these tips for protecting your smartphones, PCs, laptops and tablets:

• Lock down your login: Security is critical to protecting accounts used for work and home. Ensure passphrases for each account are lengthy, unique, and safely stored. Enable 2-factor authentication on all accounts that offer it. Review account permissions and remove apps that no longer need access. 
• Update your system and software: The most current software, web browsers, and operating systems are some of the easiest and fastest ways to protect your most sensitive assets.  
• Back it up: Protect your personal and workplace data by making electronic copies – or backups – of your most important files. Use the 3-2-1 rule to help guide you: 3 backup copies, two different media types, and one offline in a separate location.
• Clean up your online presence: When did you last use all the apps on your phone or tablet? Do you know the settings on all social media accounts that check in with friends and family? Check up on all your accounts. Then, control your role by ensuring you know who has administrative access to your accounts. Keep all of your passwords private. Remove old files, duplicate photos, and downloads you don’t need. Clean up your email and messages. Unsubscribe from spam emails and delete or archive old emails to keep your inbox organized. 
• Be careful what you share: Quizzes on social media are fun, and keeping in touch is necessary. However, questions on social media might give away too much information about you, your location, or your family.
   

We always recommend that you shred documents with sensitive information on them. The same applies to “digitally shredding” devices you’re getting rid of that capture and store sensitive, personal data. In addition to computers and phones, they may include external hard drives and USBs, tape drives, embedded flash memory, wearables, and networking equipment. Add copiers, printers, and fax machines for businesses.

Clear out stockpiles. If you have a stash of old hard drives or other devices, information still exists and could be stolen. Wipe and/or destroy unneeded devices and hard drives.

Empty your trash or recycle bin on all devices and be sure to wipe and overwrite. Simply deleting and emptying the trash isn’t enough to eliminate a file; you must permanently delete old files. Use a program that deletes the data, “wipes” it from your device, and then overwrites it by putting random data in place of your information.

Once the device is clean, you can sell it, trade it in, give it away, recycle it, or have it destroyed. To be “shredded,” a hard drive must be chipped into small pieces. Using a hammer to hit a drive only slows down a determined cybercriminal. Use a trusted shredding company to dispose of your old hard drives.