WISCONSIN (NBC 26) -- A lot of people will be getting started with their spring cleaning while in quarantine, but many of us will overlook an important area in the digital world.
The Wisconsin Better Business Bureau (BBB) is reminding you to not only clear up the physical clutter, but clean the digital clutter that lives on your electronic devices. These are the same devices you have used to shop with, scroll through social media, and probably bank or work on.
As businesses and employees adapt to the "new normal" of working from home, the focus on cybersecurity and protecting sensitive information has become critical. The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) gives advice on how to keep this information safe.
The NCSA and BBB are encouraging people to take a few spare hours or even minutes from your day to give yourself a digital makeover. Taking some simple, proactive steps will go a long way in safeguarding against any number of potential issues – like identify theft, loss of funds, or credit card fraud – that could compromise your data.
Here is a Digital Spring Cleaning Checklist the two organizations have available for download, along with a few more tips:
- Lock Down Your Login: Security is critical to protecting accounts being used for work and for home. Ensure passphrases for each account are lengthy, unique, and safely stored. Enable 2-factor authentication on all accounts that offer it.
- Update Your System and Software: Avoid procrastination! Having the most current software, web browsers, and operating systems are some of the easiest and fastest ways to protect your most sensitive assets.
- Back It Up: Protect your personal and workplace data by making electronic copies – or backups – of your most important files. Use the 3-2-1 rule to help guide you: 3 backup copies, 2 different media types, 1 offline and in a separate location.
- Clean Up Your Online Presence: When was the last time you used all of the apps on your phone or tablet? Do you know what the settings are on all of the social media accounts that check in with friends and family? These are questions to ponder and settings to review while checking these accounts. Then, control your role by making sure you know who has administrative access to your online accounts. Keep all of your passwords private.
- Be careful What You Share: Quizzes are fun and keeping in touch is a necessity these days. However, watch out for apps and questions that might give away too much information about you, your location or your family.
In addition, the BBB has a few guidelines to help safely dispose of electronically stored data. Computers and mobile phones aren't the only devices that capture and store sensitive data. External hard drives and USBs, tape drives, embedded flash memory, wearables, networking equipment and office tools such as copiers, printers, and fax machines all contain valuable personal information and stored images.
The BBB says to clear out any stockpiles you have stashed away. This includes old hard drives or other devices, even if they are in a locked storage area, as the information still exists and could be stolen. Make sure to wipe and/or destroy unneeded hard drives as soon as possible.
Another recommendation is to empty your trash/recycle bins on all devices, and be sure to wipe and overwrite. Simply deleting and emptying your digital trash isn't enough to completely get rid of a file. You must permanently delete old files.
The BBB suggests using a program that deletes the data, "wipes" it from your device, then overwrites it by putting random data in place of your information so it can no longer be retrieved. There are various overwriting and wiping tools available for different types of devices.
Decide what to do with the device once it is clean: You can sell it, trade it in, give it away, recycle it, or have it destroyed. It should be noted that failed drives still contain data, so avoid returning a failed drive to the manufacturer. Additionally, a hard drive hit with a hammer will only slow down a determined cybercriminal; instead, use a trusted shredding company to chop your hard drives into small pieces.
For more information on cybersecurity and how to protect your information, visit the BBB's website.
