Time and again, online services are being hacked, and it is only a question of time until a service you use is affected, too. Protect yourself by taking some simple, but effective measures:
There are constant reports you read or hear that some online service or other has lost customer data into the hands of criminals. Since such data are frequently abused for fraud and blackmail attempts, such a data leak can have disastrous consequences for victims.
Reduce this risk by following these tips:
- Use as few online services as possible, but as many as necessary. Delete accounts you no longer use.
- Only disclose the absolute minimum number of details about yourself as is absolutely necessary when registering.
- When using a service, you should always assume that your data will become public or at least accessible to strangers one day. Act as if you were in a public place, with people around you able to watch you or listen in to your communications.
- Use a different, secure password for every service. We would recommend using a password manager to do so.
- Check regularly whether you have been affected by a data leak. You can for instance use our link to Have I Been Pwned for this purpose.
- Change your password immediately if you ever find out a service used by you has been affected by a data leak.
