We love the Internet. Whether we’re bidding on eBay for childhood action figures while losing sleep, emailing the latest Taylor Swift conspiracy theory to our best friends, or simply paying the electric bill, being online makes our Life becomes more interesting, more connected, and more meaningful.
Unfortunately, there are countless villains out there who love our love for the internet and love to steal our personal information. The number of data breaches broke records last year, with a 20% increase between 2022 and 2023, so if we’re going to live digitally (and how could we not?), we need to be vigilant about protecting our privacy.
We can start locking down our information by looking at how secure our own home networks are.
“You probably won’t be surprised to hear that we’re the problem in this matter,” Alysa Hutnik, a privacy attorney at Kelley, Drye & Warren LLP in Washington, D.C., told us. —Raj Punjabi and Noah Michelson, The Huffington Post Host of the “Am I Doing Something Wrong?” podcast. “This is often a human error in how you set up and manage Wi-Fi.”
The first thing Hutnik recommends we do immediately is check our router settings.
“You get it out of the box – don’t leave yourself with the default factory settings, because guess what? Those are public, right?” she warns. “It’s easy for hackers to break in. You can change those factory settings.” , including your password, so it’s important to set a really strong password rather than a default one.
Next, we want to make sure we use encryption settings.
“Usually somewhere [your settings],have [an option to choose] ‘WPA,’ Wireless Protected Access,” she said. “You can enable it, which is essentially like, you wouldn’t leave your front door open, right? You wouldn’t do that in real life.
Hutnik recommends that checking our settings doesn’t just stop at our routers.
“Any time you buy technology, you have to go into settings,” she said. “There are usually privacy options and security options… spend 60 seconds exploring what those options are. The company is getting better – we have a lot of new stuff [privacy] laws – so they offer new options. [These protective settings] Might not be preset, but you can certainly turn them on.
Hutnik has many other effective privacy tips, including this one that only takes one second.
“[I am] As a privacy lawyer, I’m paranoid. “I like to keep [my webcam] If I don’t use it intentionally, it’s overwritten. Your device may be taken over by malware [and hackers could use your camera to see into your home]”.
She covers the camera with a sticky note or sticker when not in use, and she always turns her laptop off if she’s done with it.
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“These are just things to consider – again, you’re reducing your risk. It doesn’t mean you’re going to get hacked, but I’d rather someone not see my room if it can be avoided.
We also discuss how to make your passwords as strong as possible, which settings she almost always turns off on her phone, and more. So listen to the full episode here or wherever you get your podcasts.
Be sure to subscribe to Am I Doing Wrong? so you never miss an episode, including our look at the ins and outs of tipping, how to apologize or pay off credit card debt, how to find love online or overcome anxiety, tips for online shopping, Take care of your teeth and poop like a pro, secrets to booking and checking into hotels, how to deal with angry people, cooking tips from celebrity chef Jett Tira, shocking laundry secrets, tips and tricks for cleaning dishes, and more.
Need help fixing something you’re doing wrong? Email us AmIDoingItWrong@HuffPost.comwe may look into this topic in the next episode.
