Here are my top tips for all users...
1) Secure Your Phone
If you’re an Android user, the safest place to download apps is from the Google Play store. Built into devices with Google Play,
Google Play Protect protects your phone 24/7. It scans over 50 billion apps every single day, identifying potentially harmful apps and keeping them off your device or removing them.
While Google Play Protect is the ideal security blanket for your mobile device, there are steps you too can take to help ensure your device is safe. Keep your screen locked with a unique password [pattern/ pin]. And if you add your Google account on your device, you’ll be able to find if it’s lost or stolen.
Simply visit
android.com/find to locate, ring, lock and erase your Android devices—phones, tablets, and even watches.
2) Secure Your Data
We know that keeping your information safe and private is important to you, which is why we’ve baked security and privacy features into all our products. For example, Google notifies you when you’ve granted access to third-party sites or apps, but it’s really important for you to understand the information that you share with these apps or sites.
A quick check on your phone tells you exactly what access -- including Calendar, Camera, Contacts, Location, Microphone, etc. — you have shared with third party apps. So while you sip your morning coffee tomorrow, spend a minute to skim through app permissions on your phone, and choose the right settings for you.
3) Secure Your Account
Just like in the physical world where you go for a regular health check-up, did you know you could do a health checkup of your
Google Account? The
Security Checkup, gives you personalized and actionable security recommendations that help you strengthen the security of your Google Account.
Taking the Security Checkup doesn’t just help you stay safer while using Google services, it also includes helpful tips to keep you safer across the web, such as by reminding you to add a screen lock to your mobile phone, reviewing third-party access to your Google Account data, and showing you what sites and apps you may have signed into using your Google Account.
Some more steps to up your online safety game …
4) Unique passwords for your accounts
Using the same password to log in to multiple accounts increases your security risk. It’s like using the same key to lock your home, car and office – if someone gains access to one, all of them could be compromised. Create a unique password for each account to eliminate this risk and keep your accounts more secure. Along with creating unique passwords, make sure that each password is hard to guess and better yet, at least eight characters long.
Consider using a password manager, like the one built into your Chrome browser, to help you create, safeguard and keep track of all the passwords for your online accounts.
5) Go a step further by setting up 2-Step Verification
Go one step further to secure your accounts by setting up 2-Step Verification, which can help keep the bad guys out, even if they have your password. 2-Step Verification requires something you know (your password) and something you have (your phone) to be able to sign into your account.
Setting up 2-Step Verification will significantly decrease the chance of someone gaining unauthorized access to your account. Once you set up 2-Step Verification for an account, remember to be ready for the second verification step each time you sign in.
You can either choose to have SMS codes sent to your phone, or you can download the Authenticator app which can generate verification codes even if your device has no phone or data connectivity.