Security why it is important

Everyone at this point as read a story or saw a video about some large profile hack or social engineering attack. These types of attacks can be easily avoided with some common sense: 

1. Destroy any piece of mail (yes people we still get physical mail today) with your name and address.   You ask why this even matters, simply this is the first piece in gaining access to your personal life and wrecking havoc on you. So shred the paper, burn it, just make sure whatever you do that your name and address are easily reconstructed.

2. Login security. Strong passwords are a good start, and ensuring you don't use the same password for the various websites is another idea. But what will help is multi factor authentication. This is where you can either use an app on your phone that generates a random number for you to enter, a USB device you plug into your computer or have a SMS message sent to your mobile. Using a multi factor authentication can help protect your personal data. 

3. Change your passwords frequently. This suggestion varies, some people say every 45 days some say 90. But this all depends on you and how well you can remember your passwords without getting locked out. If you are looking for an easy way manage your passwords, products like LastPass are extremely useful. But simply use your smartphone and out a reminder in your calendar telling you it's time to change your passwords. You don't have to do every website you visit, break them up into groups and work your way through them.  

4. Security checkup. Just like many of us get a check up from th doctor or dentist, you should be doing the same thing to your digital presence. Check Facebook, Google, Twitter etc. Ensure your accounts are secure, take a look at your emails, unsubscribe to email lists you don't want anymore, start to remove ads from your Facebook account, clean up your personal PC, clear the history and cookies from time to time. Those cookies are what is used to track your online habits. Again depending on your level of paranoia, do this more often or less often. This is up to you.

 As you can see there is a common theme across all of these ideas, it all starts with you. You need to take a more deeper approach into your personal digital data, don't give people a reason to steal your info and use it against you.