Archives - Security Best Practice


Use the latest Wi-Fi security measures

It’s been obsolete for years, but make sure you are not still securing any Wi-Fi networks with the legacy WEP standard. WPA2 is ideal as of early 2018 and supported by any legitimate modern router or wireless-enabled device. Be on the lookout for WPA3-certified products in the coming years, as they will have additional features.

Beyond Facebook – How targeted advertising works across the web

At some point when using a web browser, you’ve probably had the following experience: You look something up in a search engine and click a few links to product pages, review sites, etc. You then navigate to another website, like Facebook or someone’s blog, seemingly unrelated to that previous search. There, you notice specific advertisements […]

Consider a YubiKey for highly sensitive accounts

If you use two-factor authentication (2FA) to protect your logins, there’s still some risk if the 2FA code is sent via SMS. YubiKey (a hardware authentication device) offers a safer alternative to text messages, in the form of a USB stick that must be physically plugged into your Mac/PC during login. It’s already compatible with […]

Never post your email address to a public forum

If you want to give someone on a message board or social network you email address, it’s best to send it to them via a private message. Alternatively, you can type out the address, substituting actual words for the “@” and “.” symbols. These techniques protect you from having your email captured by automatic scanners […]

Don’t click the unsubscribe button in a spam email

Unsubscribe buttons are useful for removing your email address from high-volume mailing lists, like those from political campaigns or big box stores. However, they can also be used against you by spammers: Clicking one of these buttons confirms your account is in active use and in some cases redirects to you a compromised webpage. Flagging […]

Uninstall Adobe Flash Player

Flash is a holdover from a previous era of the web, when most traffic was from PCs. Mobile devices don’t even support it and there are now safer desktop alternatives, such as HTML5, for running certain browser apps. Consider uninstalling it to shield yourself from the many threats that exploit it.