How to keep your data safe?

Data is probably the most valuable thing in the 21st century. Big companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon are utilizing their data to bring big fat profits for their organizations.

With big data comes big responsibilities. Companies are spending millions of dollars to keep their data safe and secure. The senate committee in the US regularly brings in the CEOs of these companies to brief them over the data issues.

Just 4 years ago, the Cambridge Analytica scandal rocked American politics.

There are several ways to keep your data safe. Here are some of the most common and easiest ones:

1 — Create a backup:

Backing up your data is extremely important. There are several tools for that but we will discuss them in another post in thorough detail. For now, just remember to create a backup. Services like Google Drive and Dropbox are the easiest to use.

If you are on Windows, you can use their backup tool to keep your data safe.

2 — Enable 2-Factor Authentication:

Google and other services now provide two-factor authentication. With this, it has become quite difficult for hackers to access your data. If your account is protected with 2-factor authentication, you would get a notification if anyone tries to access your data.

We highly recommend using two-factor authentication on all of your accounts especially on Google and Facebook.

3 — Shop on SSL-enabled websites:

If you are a shopaholic, then you must be very careful with where you put your credit card details. SSL enabled websites to keep your data secure and transfer it over a secure channel.

If you are wondering what’s an SSL enabled website, then look at the URL of the website. If it has “https” in the URL, then it’s an SSL-enabled website. If it only has ‘http’, then please avoid using your credit card on it.

4 — Save yourself from reverse-engineering:

Hackers are clever. You might have heard the term “reverse-engineering”. What hackers do is that they analyze your social profiles, try to find clues from there, and then get access to your account. This might sound like an impossible thing to do but it works in the real life. People share way too much of their information on social media profiles and it’s easy to reverse-engineer it.

5 — Use a VPN:

If you do not want websites to track your location then you can use a proxy or a VPN to hide your location. There are several free and premium VPNs available out there. I would highly suggest using a paid VPN.

6 — Be careful with Public WiFis:

There are hundreds of public places where you can get free access to the internet. Public libraries, parks, restaurants, and what not. The problem with public Wi-Fi is that it is not secure. Hackers have access to it as well and they can read or steal the information that you are sending over the network.

You can use public wi-fi for browsing the internet but do not enter any sensitive information such as your bank account details etc. whenever you are using public wi-fi.

7 — Do not use the same password everywhere:

It would be foolish to use the same password on every single site. If an unauthorized person gets his hand on your password, he would be able to login to other websites too. It is highly recommended to use different passwords for different websites.

If you find it difficult to remember passwords, you can use some password manager app or even Google’s Password manager to keep your passwords in a single place.

8 — Keep your software updated:

Sometimes software is vulnerable to many attacks due to a weakness in its code. Hackers can use this weakness to gain unauthorized access to your data. If you are storing or accessing your important data from software, then you must keep it updating regularly.

9 — Encrypt your passwords and devices:

If you store the password in a text file or if your data is on a hard drive then it is better to encrypt it well. Breaking encryption is not a cup of tea and you have to be highly intelligent and need a lot of time and resources to break good encryption. Therefore encrypt, encrypt, encrypt!

10 — Consult with database consultants:

There are thousands of database consultants that can help you with creating a database architecture for your company. It is important to get guidance from a professional as data is going to be the most important asset of your organization. If you have big database needs, get help from a professional.