SOUTHFIELD, Mich. - WXYZ — It’s a national day to raise awareness about how to protect yourself from hackers online!
About 90% of consumers say they feel their info isn’t protected online but those same consumers also say they aren’t doing anything about it.
That’s right, people tend to think it’s too time consuming or expensive to protect your privacy but I spoke with an expert about the apps that prove that’s not the case.
Do you change passwords often? Only when they make me change my passwords, when I forget it.
“I have some pretty weak passwords myself,” said Rufus Murray.
If that tune sounds familiar, you’re not alone. According to www.entrepreneur.com, 90 % of consumers surveyed say they are “very concerned” about privacy.
But despite that concern, the same survey reveals people do little to safeguard their information online.
So how can you get proactive without working too hard? We teamed up with a local cyber security expert to get the answers starting with protecting your passwords from hackers.
If they can access that information, now all of the sudden they can open up loans, steal your personal information, here we are talking about huge violation of user privacy.
Data privacy advocates recommend downloading a password protecting app, like www.dashlane.com ,the app will store all of your passwords, so you never forget them and help you create unique ones plus is equipped with a tool that will auto-change your passwords across several websites in just a click.
Another important item on your to do list? Making sure your browser isn’t tracking you.
They know what you’re shopping for, it’s scary how much they know about you,” said Mary Jo Jewell.
According to experts, they do know a lot because every time you use a retail website, your browser submits info about what you’re looking at to third party advertising networks.
Experts recommend a secure browser like www.duckduckgo.com
Their whole business model is making sure your individual data stays private for that session. It’s free, just like www.google.com, but bills itself as the search engine that doesn’t track you and finally, experts say think before you text.
Most people like to lean on Iphone but all that info gets backed up into the cloud and allows any government agency or hacker who forces their way in to read your messages.
Experts say you should use an app called signal, https://signal.org it’s free, it works on every mobile platform, and is known for its strong encryption.
Its allows you to talk with your friends and family while making sure those messages can’t be intercepted by anybody else
There are several others out there. Experts say to do your research and figure out what works for you.
