If you aren’t worried about the safety of your data online these days, you haven’t been paying attention! It’s a scary time for privacy and safety both! The following is a guest post from Karthik Reddy, Community Manager at  Webmastersjury.org that gives you a more detailed look at exactly how your favorite companies are using your data and how their safety stacks up!

-T. W. Seller

How Important is Online Data Safety?

When people go online, they tend to take for granted the data and information that they give up to tech companies and social networking sites. It can be as simple as signing up to a website’s newsletter or shopping for clothes on an e-Commerce site. You provide your name and email address in order to join a network.

But where do all the information go? How are they collected and how are they used? These questions are not always asked by anyone who goes online. Online data safety is put in the back burner.

However, there are risks and dangers that one should never take for granted. The clever minds behind TechJuryl has shed light on the different aspects of online data security that many people are not aware of.

In this infographic, you will discover and learn how important data safety is by looking at the many cases where data breaches and leakages occurred.

Popular networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Pinterest have encountered the headache of stolen data and accidental violation of shared and collected data, from personal information, software and hardware information, and payment details to information from outside network like third party companies.

Data Breach and Leakage Are Commonplace

In 2013, Pinterest suffered a data breach. Their customer service provider, Zendesk, got hacked, resulting to the leak of thousands of user emails. Fortunately, no passwords were compromised.

LinkedIn has no such luck when in 2012, the network saw more than 6 million passwords of their users got stolen. In 2016, it was even worse. Details of 17 million LinkedIn users were put on sale on the Dark Web for around 1,500 pounds.

Some data breaches are due to unencrypted data. For example, WhatsApp location data was said to be vulnerable to being intercepted through a rogue access point or man-in-the-middle attacks. It was discovered by a cyber forensics research and education group from the University of New Haven in 2014. In 2019, those claims have proven to be right.

Tips in Protecting Your Personal Details and Information

Online security is mandatory, especially in the age of the Internet where sharing information is just one click away. Social network platforms and apps collect and share data in various ways that can sometimes lead to breach and compromise. That is why it is only sensible to take steps in ensuring your data is safe and protected.

One of the most common risks of online data is the hacking, stealing or leaking of passwords. Even security professionals are not immune. Statistics said that 50% of them have not changed their social network passwords for a year or more. And 20% of them have never changed it, ever.

So, if you want to start your data protection, the number one step is to protect your password. One way to do this is to avoid sharing your password to anyone. It is also advisable not to include your name or any common words when creating your password. Strong passwords are those that are a mix of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols.

The next steps include login verification, use of extra security features, making your email accounts secure, running anti-virus software on your computer and blocking installation from unknown sources.

Another security measure is the requirement of email and phone number to request a reset of password link or code.

You could also do with a recovery email address and a specialized security solution against spyware threats.

Realizing the importance of online data safety is one thing. Taking precautionary steps to ensure its security and protection is another. It is up to you as a user to apply what you learn about data security in order to avoid compromise and possible disaster.

Infographic URL:https://techjury.net/blog/online-data-safety-stats/

How Safe Is Our Online Data? [Infographic]