The internet is a central part of everyday life. People share vast amounts of data and information through various accounts and communication tools. To remain protected, one must consider using security tools to ensure this data is transferred securely without the risk of exposure or loss.
This article will give you five tools you can use now to boost your account and data security.
Password manager
Managing so many online accounts can be difficult, so people steer away from safe security practices to make their life easier. They may choose weak passwords or use the same one for multiple accounts. But strong and secure passwords are crucial for keeping your accounts and data safe.
A password manager can help you manage your accounts easily without sacrificing security. With this tool, you can generate strong passwords for accounts and save them securely within a vault that only you can access. You can even enable auto-fill for your devices, so you don’t have to enter the vault each time you want to log into an account.
Cloud storage
To secure your data, you must know how to store it. The cloud has become a go-to data storage option for businesses and individuals. It has many advantages over traditional physical storage, including flexibility and accessibility.
You can set up cloud storage in minutes and start uploading files to an encrypted online system. You can access your files from anywhere as long as you have the cloud login credentials. This means that your data is no longer tied to a device.
Data backups are the pinnacle of data security, and cloud storage allows you to make as many backups as you want. Furthermore, you can share files and collaborate through the internet instead of relying on USB sticks and other unsafe data transfer options.
VPN
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a service that protects your online connection and privacy. It funnels all of your online activity through a third server hosted by the service, hiding your IP address and encrypting all your internet data transfers.
A VPN is an excellent, cheap tool for overall internet security. Online services and websites constantly try to extract data from your online activity for marketing purposes. Hackers can find vulnerabilities in your network if it’s unencrypted. These are all issues that can be addressed with a VPN.
A bonus is an ability to “teleport” to any location in the world. For example, if you’re in Europe, you can connect to a VPN server in the U.S. and enjoy content only available in the new location, such as Netflix shows. If you want to research what provider to choose, Reddit users provide discussions about the best VPN. You’ll find most of the VPN options in the table.
Authentication app
We mentioned the importance of strong passwords, but that’s not enough. Today’s hackers are highly sophisticated and have many ways of cracking even the strongest passwords. That’s where two-factor authentication comes in. 2FA is a security feature that many online services have, requiring additional proof that you’re the person the account belongs to.
One of the most common 2FA methods is through an authentication app. The app generates a code for your account every 30 seconds, which you must enter to log in. It’s very effective in thwarting malicious login attempts, as hackers will have no way of knowing the authentication code unless they have physical access to your mobile device. It’s also very easy to set up.
Next-generation firewall
A firewall is a network security tool that monitors and filters incoming and outgoing internet traffic based on pre-set rules. A next-generation firewall (NGFW) takes it further by including features like intrusion detection, threat intelligence, and more.
An NGFW helps prevent security breaches by quickly detecting and blocking malware and other harmful incoming traffic. More advanced tools should give you a holistic view of your threat surfaces, such as vulnerable data, accounts, and users. They will inform you where a threat originated so you can stop it effectively.
The main advantage of NGFW over traditional firewalls is the time to detect threats. Threat detection time is the most important factor in protecting sensitive data from unauthorized access. NGFW can detect threats within seconds and prioritize alerts so you can take swift action to eliminate them.
Final thoughts
Keeping your online accounts and data safe has never been more challenging. Users now have dozens of accounts they use daily, and the data size is also rising. Luckily, the security industry is trying to keep up with rising threats, and several tools can greatly reduce the risk to your accounts and data.
You can use a password manager and an authentication app to prevent unauthorized access to accounts. Encrypt your internet traffic with a VPN and store your data securely on the cloud to maximize its security.
