Email is an old set of protocols that can easily leak your data. Don’t include information about your Social Security benefits or bank account in the body of a standard email. If need be, transmit such items instead via phone, fax, or even encrypted email, which is available via free tools such as GPG Suite.

Ransomware encrypts your files and demands payment for their decryption. It usually starts with a malicious link or attachment targeting vulnerability in outdated software. Don’t click these items if you don’t recognize them and/or if they were flagged by your security software. Also, never pay ransoms, since they don’t guarantee safe return.

Phishing emails are designed to fool you into clicking a link or attachment. To do so, they mimic the look and feel of official corporate or government communications. You can fight back by not engaging with any email that has a long/garbled sender address or subject line, is filled with typos and odd formatting, or […]

Recycling the same password across accounts means that if it’s stolen even once, everything from your personal email to your Facebook could be hijacked. Plus, the most commonly reused passwords are easily guessed, such as “password” and “football.” Use a password manager to generate and securely store strong, unique passwords for each login.

Phishing is becoming more common on social media. How can you keep yourself safe?