According to a recent survey conducted by global consultancy PwC, 92% of internet users would like to have control of their personal data online – but just 10% believe they already do. With cybercrime an ever-present threat when surfing the world wide web, it’s only logical that we’d all like to keep ourselves and our sensitive information safe from malicious parties.
Fortunately, solutions are at hand. There is now a whole industry based around improving your cyber defenses and keeping your data secure when browsing the internet. Of course, these can’t promise to keep you 100% safe from criminal activity, especially since a significant percentage of data breaches are caused by human error. Nonetheless, they can boost your safety online and minimize the risk of falling prey to a hacking event.
VPN
Are you familiar with the concept of a virtual private network (VPN)? This sophisticated piece of technology allows you to mask your IP address (and even pretend it’s located in a different part of the world). As well as the practical benefits of accessing geoblocked content and preventing internet throttling, a VPN can also substantially enhance your online security.
That’s because most VPNs come with encryption features, which make all information sent across them illegible to a third party. Of course, you must take care when selecting a VPN to make sure that they aren’t actually harvesting your data themselves. Free options are the most culpable in this respect and may sell your information to other parties. However, a reputable paid service will not compromise you in such a way.
VPNs can also be set up for personal or business uses. This can be done with your VPS or dedicated servers. While a lengthy learning curve is typically needed to set up a secure private VPN, most open-source tools let you do this with ease.
Secure messenger platforms
Tools like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger have revolutionized the way we stay in contact with one another today. Allowing instantaneous exchange of information across any internet connection, they’re extremely convenient and user-friendly, not to mention being free to use. However, they’re certainly not the most secure options on the table.
Thankfully, an entire market has risen up around the demand to secure your online interactions. There are a wide variety of services to choose from here, with Signal and Threema two of the most popular. The former is an open-source messenger which boasts of superior end-to-end encryption technology, while the latter offers all the same advantages but without even requiring your phone number. It does, however, demand a nominal fee.
Data removal
In this day of several privacy-invading apps and tools, the need to take data removal seriously can not be overemphasized. The sheer number of requests to share our data with which we are bombarded each day can quickly become exhausting.
If you’re tired of being marketed to relentlessly start from deleting your social media accounts and proceed to remove your personal data from data brokers. You can follow this guide to removing yourself from the internet for more detailed information.
