The 10 Essential Measures To Ensure Your Cybersecurity

Whether in a professional or personal context, the use of digital tools continues to grow and diversify. Desktop or laptop computers, mobile phones, tablets, connected objects … They are increasingly part of our daily lives. This intensification of uses represents an opportunity for cybercriminals to develop their attacks. How can we best protect ourselves from these risks? Here are 10 essential best practices to adopt to ensure your cybersecurity.

Table of Contents

Protect Your Access With Strong Passwords

Use sufficiently long, complex, and different passwords on all equipment and services you access, whether personal or professional. The majority of attacks are often due to passwords that are too simple or reused. When in doubt, or even regularly as a preventative measure, change them. Use a password manager and enable two-factor authentication whenever possible to increase your security.

Back Up Your Data Regularly

In the event of hacking, but also the event of breakdown, theft, or loss of your device, backup is often the only way to find your data (photos, files, contacts, messages, etc.). Regularly back up the data on your PCs, mobile phones, and tablets, and always keep a copy of your backups on a medium external to your equipment (key or USB disk), which you unplug once the backup is complete.

Apply Security Updates To All Your Devices (PCs, Tablets, Phones, Etc.) As Soon As They Are Offered To You

You thus correct security vulnerabilities that hackers could use to break into your devices, steal your personal information or your passwords, or even to destroy your data, or even spy on you (See our sheet for updates to date ).

Use An Antivirus

Antiviruses protect against a large majority of known attacks and viruses. There are many free or paid solutions depending on your uses and the level of protection or services sought. Regularly check that the antivirus software on your equipment is up to date and carry out in-depth scans to verify that you have not been infected.

Download Your Apps Only From Official Sites

Only install applications from the publishers’ official sites or stores (e.g., Apple App Store, Google Play Store) to limit the risk of installing a tricked application to hack your equipment. Likewise, avoid suspicious or fraudulent websites (illegal downloads, videos, streaming), which could also install a virus on your hardware.

Beware Of Unexpected Messages

If you receive an unexpected or alarming message by messaging ( email), SMS, or chat, always ask for confirmation from the sender by another means if it seems known and legitimate to you. It may, in fact, be a phishing attack aimed at tricking you into stealing confidential information (passwords, identity, or banking information), the sending of a virus contained in an attachment that you are encouraged to open, or a link that would take you to a malicious site.

Check The Sites You Shop On

While online commerce makes shopping easier and offers the opportunity to get good deals, there are, unfortunately, many dubious, even malicious, sales sites. Before buying on the Internet, check that you are not on a fraudulent copy of an official site, the credibility of the offer, and check the reviews. Without this verification, you run the risk of having your bank card number stolen and never receiving your order or even receiving a counterfeit or dangerous product.

Master Your Social Networks

Social networks are fantastic collaborative communication and information tools. However, they often contain a lot of personal information which must not fall into the wrong hands. Secure access to your social networks with a strong and unique password, set permissions on your information and publications so that they are not recklessly public or used to harm you, and do not relay unverified information ( fake news ) ( See our profile on social networks ).

Separate Your Personal And Professional Uses

With the increase in digital uses, the line between personal and professional use is often thin. These uses overlap sometimes. Hardware, messaging, “clouds”… It is essential to separate your uses so that the hacking of personal access cannot harm your business, or conversely, so that the compromise of your business cannot have an impact on the security of your data ( See our sheet on personal and professional uses ).

Avoid Public Or Unknown WiFi Networks

When on the move, choose to connect your telephone subscription (3G or 4G) to public WiFi networks. These WiFi networks are often poorly secured and can be controlled or usurped by hackers who could see and capture your personal or confidential information (passwords, bank card numbers, etc.). If you have no choice but to use public WiFi, be careful never to carry out sensitive operations there and, if possible, use a virtual private network (VPN).

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