MOSCOW, January 7Profiles on social networks should be kept private, and it is also better not to share a large amount of personal data on them unless necessary, including not indicating your real date of birth — this will make life more difficult for scammers and will help protect their data, said Dmitry, head of the Russian research center at Kaspersky Lab Galov.
«If we are talking about digital privacy and protection from attackers, then the key rule is not to make life easier for scammers and ill-wishers. To do this, it is worth paying attention to several aspects of digital protection. … It is better to make profiles on social networks private and add them as friends only those you know. Don't share too much personal information unnecessarily. For example, you can indicate a date of birth that is close to your real one, and leave fields blank for additional information if filling them out is not necessary,» he explained.
Speaking about passwords, the expert noted that they should be different for each account and should be changed periodically. Combinations must consist of at least 12 characters (letters of different case, special characters, numbers) and do not include personal data (for example, first name, last name, pet name, address). Another additional way to secure accounts and personal data is two-factor authentication in those services that allow it.
«Pay attention to what accesses installed applications request, and do not grant those that they do not need to work. If a conventional “flashlight” asks for access to contacts, this is a reason to be wary. In general, before install the application, we recommend studying the terms of its use, namely the privacy policy, which will indicate what data the developer collects, how it is stored and processed,” Galov added.
At the same time, for example, cookies themselves, according to him, do not threaten privacy, but attackers, having infected a device and gaining access to them, can use them for their own purposes. Therefore, it is recommended not to save cookies on suspicious sites or when there is no need for it. It is also worth paying attention in general to what data is published and where, and not storing your confidential information unprotected on your smartphone, in correspondence on social networks and instant messengers; the best alternative is special applications or password-protected folders.
However, if data from any account is leaked, then it is important to change the password for the account as quickly as possible. “At the same time, it is difficult to constantly monitor news about leaks and independently check whether the data has been compromised; for this it is better to use special solutions that will notify if, for example, a password or phone number has become publicly available or on the darknet,” concluded head of the Russian research center «Kaspersky Lab».
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