Make cybersecurity a New Year’s resolution

KASPERSKY Lab discussed in its most recent podcast 11 highly doable New Year’s resolutions which will keep users safe online.

The global cybersecurity company recommended the practical resolutions below that will greatly help highly active netizens better manage their data and money on the internet.

1) Use of IoT devices — connected devices, smart devices.

Kaspersky Lab recommended users to think thoroughly in terms of using and living with highly vulnerable IoT devices. The cybersecurity company said that if such devices are not adding value or quality to one’s life, now is a good time to get rid of them or disconnect them from the internet.

2) It’s a #NewYearNewMe for cybercriminals, too.

Everybody knows people are looking for deals and offers they can get at the beginning of the year. Kaspersky Lab suggests users to be careful with opening links of sale events as some of these could be something more than meets the eye.

3) Secure your new device. Some people receive tech devices as gifts during the holidays and Kaspersky Lab proposes to insure and protect these devices as a 2019 resolution.

4) Update your new devices. There are those who got lucky with Santa and got high-priced holiday gifts such as laptops. The cybersecurity company advises that if such brand new gifts do not have updated operating systems, a good new year’s resolution is to update them right away because an old update means getting some vulnerabilities in the computer.

Kaspersky Lab said most devices, especially out of the box, are usually at least a few months behind in terms of updates. So setting updates as soon as getting these tech gifts to install either overnight or automatically is ideal.

Pro tip: If buying a device for a friend or family member, a valuable idea is to get it out of the box, update it, and then put it back into the box.

5) Get an anti-virus for your Android device, whether free or paid.

Kaspersky Lab says this is a reasonable resolution as getting one really doesn’t take a lot of footprint in terms of memory or CPU usage. It keeps one’s device protected.

The cybersecurity company encouraged Wi-Fi users to ensure their router has the most up-todate security settings.

7) Lock your online better.

Kaspersky Lab says if one is using any type of online account, whether it’s Gmail or Facebook or Twitter, it’s a nifty New Year’s resolution to set up a good type of two- factor authentication or 2FA. In simpler terms, 2FAs are two separate pieces of information accounts

8) Include online accounts when doing spring cleaning, especially social media accounts.

9) Get a password manager to help with account passwords.

Old social media or email accounts most likely bear passwords as old as 12 years old and these has to go. The cybersecurity experts say passwords don’t have to be hard — one can use a password manager that can generate a brand new key for each online account.

10) Tidy up apps on devices. As another New Year’s resolution, Kaspersky Lab reminds users to evaluate whether they really need all the apps on their phone or not.

Look up on the privacy details of the apps on one’s device to understand what these do. There are some dedicated sites that simplify privacy rules and written in layman’s terms so one can easily understand what these are really about.

11) Make sure to keep oneself safe online.

The cybersecurity company says some people might feel paranoid reading that AV is dead. Generally speaking, a good anti-virus solution still keeps one safe online. One can even get it for free. Kaspersky Lab offers both free and paid solutions.