I can admit it now: I have always considered myself sort of recklessly blase when it comes to my own digital security. I think it probably stems from a combination of, “this isn’t going to happen to me!” and a kind of laissez-faire nihilism leftover from my punk rock teen years, but whatever the cause, the fact remains: I have been negligent of my own security. Luckily, I have not suffered overly from this negligence, and I’ve only had a couple of security hiccups – ones that were solved easily and without issue. In fact, though I haven’t taken huge steps to protect my information on the internet, my natural skepticism has gone a long way to protect me from scams and other possible breaches.
For example, I already avoid almost all emails at all cost unless absolutely necessary. This can be traced back to my general unwillingness to participate in correspondence, paired with my low tolerance for being “sold” things, but most emails end up in the trash. Furthermore, I have never shared sensitive material through email. It has literally never even come up – maybe because of all those emails I dump.
I also tend to avoid other methods of scamming, such as texts (if I don’t personally know you, that text is getting deleted), and phone calls (who answers the phone anymore? Not me). I have received probably dozens of those scam IRS voicemails telling me that my social security number is going to be suspended…and you can probably guess by now what I do with those.
Now, this isn’t to say I don’t have plenty of room for improvement – as I confessed above, I’m not exactly trying to play it safe with my data. It has basically been my own disdain for communication and my skepticism of everything, combined with dumb luck, that has saved me so far. But, after reading the great article by Melanie Pinola for Lifehacker detailing a top ten of digital security musts, I feel much better informed and prepared to take a more active role in protecting myself online. I plan on implementing many of the tactics I learned in the article into my routine as soon as possible.
For example (and this should’ve been painfully obvious), I need to actually back up my computer instead of pressing that “remind me tomorrow” button every day until the end of time. And – expanding on that – I need a better antivirus for my computer. Like, immediately. My computer security is pretty appalling, to be frank (please don’t hack me). My router settings also need to be changed, because it has definitely been a while. And I should absolutely start using a VPN when using public WiFi.
My phone security could be improved in some ways (ahem, I really need to have a look at my current security settings for the apps I use the most), but I already use a 6-digit security code to unlock my phone, and almost every site I use (or at least the ones that potentially carry the most sensitive information) have implemented two-factor authentication.
So, what have I learned? Being punk rock is no excuse for being an idiot, but it is a good way to nurture a healthy sense of skepticism. You win some, you lose some.
