8 Cybersecurity Tips for Online Students: Expert Advice
Are you learning online? Don’t forget about cybersecurity. Unfortunately, the risks of cyberthreats remain real, and their frequency only grows as more and more students become online learners.
The education sector is among the most vulnerable industries. According to the statistics, 43% of schools had student data attacked. 87% experienced one or more successful cyberattacks. The dangers are diverse: from identity and data theft to malware and financial threats.
Luckily, the situation isn’t hopeless. There are a couple of safety measures you can take to protect your privacy and prevent cyber risks. These eight tips by an academic writer from a top homework help service, where students can have professionals do my homework for me and boost their grades with ease, will help you stay safe when learning from home.
1. Create unique and strong passwords
Using one password for all your accounts is a #1 mistake. This turns you into an easy target for cybercriminals. They need to hack only one password to access all your accounts. Then, you risk having your sensitive data exposed and losing access to your pages.
So rule number one: make separate, unique passwords for all your accounts, especially email.
Your password also needs to be strong for some extra security. Here are some tips:
Make it 12 characters or longer.
Include lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols.
Do not include your date of birth, names of people you know, and similar personal information that is easy to find out about you.
Avoid common words and keyboard patterns like “password” or “qwerty.”
2. Choose secure online services that encrypt your data and protect it
When you use digital tools for learning, try to select those that are specifically designed for education. Otherwise, you may face security concerns. These could be things like user tracking, malware, privacy gaps, inappropriate ads, etc.
Make sure you check privacy and confidentiality information before you use an online service or an app. For example, look for 100% confidentiality and strong encryption guarantees when you want to hire an online paper writing service. Luckily, there are a lot of trustworthy options. Your data must always stay protected and secure.
3. Turn on multi-factor authentication
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is your friend. Turn it on on all your important accounts, especially email and banking ones.
MFA has different types. For example, in addition to entering a password, you may need to provide a PIN sent via email or SMS, use a password app or face scan, etc.
MFA takes only a minute to set up, but it immediately makes your online experience more secure. Even if you’re sure that your password is strong, it will never hurt to be extra cautious and use MFA.
4. Think before you click
The human factor is one of the top cybersecurity risks. A lot of students expose themselves to online risks by interacting with suspicious content. This is why it’s crucial to take a moment and evaluate possible security issues.
Be especially cautious with your email. In 2022, the frequency of email attacks increased by 48%. Usually, these are phishing attempts. This is the type of attack that aims to get you to reveal your personal information, such as your password, financial data, address, phone number, etc. Here are a few things you should do before responding, clicking on links, or downloading files from emails:
The email domain should match the company you received the email from. If you notice any misspellings, it is probably a scam.
Be extra cautious with unexpected emails.
Ignore urgency calls. No matter what rewards are offered for an immediate response, take a pause to double-check everything.
Before you click on a link sent to you, hover your mouse over it to see if the actual address matches the link spelled out in the text.
Don’t respond to emails soliciting your personal information. No reputable company will ask for it via email.
5. Check the confidentiality settings of your social media pages
Privacy settings allow you to enforce the security of your data and manage your confidentiality. Unfortunately, students often forget to set them, making themselves more vulnerable to fraudulent activities.
What are some of the useful privacy features?
Regulate the visibility of your profile and choose the audience, like the public, friends of friends, or friends/followers only.
Choose who can interact with you, text you, and send friend requests.
Block and report suspicious accounts.
6. Don’t overshare
Being on social media is second nature to students. While it’s exciting to share bits of your life with friends, oversharing can be risky.
When you post information online, you can’t entirely control the audience that will see it. It may reach more people than you expect and turn into a problem.
What is dangerous to share? Your geolocation, photos of valuable positions, the information that exposes your identity, answers to your security questions, etc.
Unfortunately, it is often impossible to fully erase your posts, even if you have second thoughts. So be careful about the things you share and manage your audience.
7. Have a backup
Keep a copy of important data in a safe place to be prepared for digital emergencies. Contacts, photos, research progress, and other valuable data can be stored securely on removable media such as an external hard drive or cloud storage. A backup will help you in case you accidentally download malware that may erase or damage your data.
8. Keep your software updated
Sustaining performance and adding new features aren’t the only benefits of updating your software. They are also essential for security.
Maintaining software performance is an ongoing process. Flaws and weaknesses can be found at any point. Once they become discovered by cybercriminals, they may cause a significant threat to users.
Usually, patches and updates are released fast to fix security vulnerabilities, preventing cybercriminals from taking advantage of them. You shouldn’t wait to enable them either.
Turn on auto-updates on your devices to get all important changes first. They take only a few minutes to install but play an essential role in protecting your privacy and data.
Final Thoughts
Don’t let cyberthreats ruin your learning experience. Incorporate these eight tips into your security strategy to protect your data and feel confident online. Stay safe!
