How to Stay Safe on the Internet in 2024
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By Oskar Rutten, founder and CEO at Zuna
What is the first thing you do when you wake up each day? Do you read the latest headlines? Check your emails? Respond to messages?
The internet is embedded into our daily routines. And with that comes risk and responsibility.
Data from the Department of Home Affairs shows there was a cyber incident reported every six minutes between 2022 and 2023.
Many don’t consider the importance of cyber safety until it is too late.
Read on for some practical tips on how you can stay safe on the internet this year.
Multi-factor authentication is your best friend
Have you noticed how many Instagram accounts have been hacked in recent years? Maybe your favourite creator was unable to access their account and had to start fresh.
A lot of this comes back to not having switched on multi-factor authentication (MFA).
MFA protects your personal accounts from unauthorised access. It requires a verification code, often sent via email or text, that you then use to log in.
This creates additional hurdles for anyone trying to break into your online accounts, keeping your personal information safe from hackers, credential stuffing attempts and phishing.
If it is not already there by default, add MFA to any site that holds your personal and financial information.
Consider what you share online
Have you ever considered the consequences of sharing a post with the make and model of your first car? The real estate sign in front of your first home? Or even your pet’s name?
When you share personal information online, you are potentially giving hackers a cheat sheet to your password.
Stay password savvy
Research from Telstra shows that 46 per cent of Australians use an easy-to-guess password.
As someone who works with businesses on cybersecurity daily, I recommend changing your critical accounts’ passwords every three months. This will help mitigate credential stuffing attacks.
It will only take you 10 minutes, four times a year. That is just 40 minutes compared to the hours and days you will need to pick up the pieces after a security breach.
For extra protection, I suggest investing in a password manager like Bitwarden, which safely encrypts all of your passwords, so you don’t have to worry about remembering them all.
When changing passwords, avoid using real words and names. Include a combination of lower case and upper case letters, numbers and symbols. Be sure that all of your passwords significantly differ, as you want to make it difficult for hackers to attempt a guess.
Don’t click away your savings
The easiest way for cyber criminals to get a quick win is to intercept online payments without your knowledge.
When making an electronic fund transfer, don’t be afraid to call a vendor to double check their account details.
For online shopping, I recommend using PayPal and not saving your card details to your browser.
To ensure you are on a legitimate website, check if the URL begins with ‘https’ and has a closed padlock icon. If not, you may be at risk of being scammed.
Keep in mind that public Wi-Fi is just that, public.
When using an unsecured network, your digital footprint is at risk of being tracked.
Stick with a secure network when making purchases online.
Never take anything at face value
If it’s too good to be true – it probably is.
Oskar Rutten is a financial technology and cybersecurity expert who empowers businesses across Australia and globally, to embrace the digital revolution with confidence. As the founder and CEO of Zuna, Oskar helps businesses streamline their processes through digitisation in a bid to help them achieve sustainable growth and maximise success.
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Zachary Skinner is the editor of TechDrivePlay.com, where tech, cars and adventure share the fast lane.
A former snowboarding pro and programmer, he brings both creative flair and technical know-how to his reviews. From high-performance cars to clever gadgets, he explores how innovation shapes the way we move, connect and live.
