6 ways to improve your online security in minutes

If we’re not careful where we click, we can easily let the wrong people access what’s most important to us.

Therefore, it is necessary to maintain a minimum level of cyber hygiene – not only in terms of the links we click or the sites we visit. A few other elementary steps are also required. Fortunately, they require neither time nor specialized knowledge.

Here’s how you can significantly increase the security of your personal information in a few minutes:

Update your antivirus and web browser

First of all, it’s important to have an antivirus if you don’t already have one. There are enough options on the market with free versions that offer more than enough protection.

From then on, however, it must be regularly updated so that it is always up to date with its latest version. The same goes for the web browser you use. It also needs to be regularly updated to avoid problems with its operation as well as gaps in its online protection.

The good thing is that usually these updates often happen automatically, but if this is not the case for you, you need to check that the software is up to date.

Use a password manager

A long time ago, passwords that included your name or date of birth didn’t do any good, and today they’re child’s play for hackers. It is no coincidence that almost all sites now encourage their users to use more complex passwords.

But h&5Wgb!9$xT2 isn’t very easy to remember, is it? Especially if you need to use 10-15 similar ones for the most important sites you use and really care about security.

This is where so-called password managers come into play. These are special programs that safely store, generate and manage passwords so that you don’t have to remember various complex combinations. There you can safely collect all your passwords in one place and use them quickly and easily when you need them.

Use multi-factor protection

This is a service now offered by almost all major sites and means that in addition to a password, at least one more layer of protection can be added by presenting two or more pieces of proof of identity.

This could be entering a code you received via SMS, email, or phone call, or requiring an answer to a question that only you know.

Turn on notifications for your online banking

If you don’t have one, there’s nothing to include, but at the expense of that, you’ll have to go to the nearest bank branch for the smallest thing. Online banking is convenient, but it also has its risks, no matter how well-protected the sites of banking institutions are and how secure you think your password is.

Therefore, as a precaution, it is good to use the notification service. So you will receive an SMS or other type of message with every transaction from your account and you will be able to immediately feel if something is wrong or if someone is trying to make a money transfer on your behalf.

Back up your information

If you don’t have an account in any cloud service yet, now is the time to do so. There you can collect and store everything you own in digital format. Accidents happen – your phone breaks or your computer’s hard drive goes bad and you lose everything forever.

Not if all this was not copied to a safe place in some cloud or on an external hard drive. This way you will recover your information without problems.

Turn off Bluetooth when not in use

Almost any device can be hacked via Bluetooth and your personal information can then fall into the wrong hands. If there’s no reason to have Bluetooth on right now, just turn it off.