personal cyber security

Protecting Your Privacy

Ok, so in previous articles, we’ve looked at the military-grade encryption iStratus provides because it goes without re-emphasizing it, we highly value protecting your information. Yes. We do our part, but we feel it is also important for us to look at how you can do your part to protect yourself from “online gremlins” too. 

And stay cyber safe.

It is no surprise that technology is pretty savvy towards what we do.  — By basic definition, marketing technology, in particular, is the industry devoted in part “to tracking people” and merging their information, so advertising can be tailored to suit our interests more effectively.

This tracking occurs on multiple levels: There’s physical tracking, because we carry our cell phones everywhere we go. And virtual tracking, of all the places we visit online.

The more that is understood about how the information is being collected, shared, and sold off, the more people tend to want to protect their privacy. Still, in practice, it’s difficult to know what is effective and what is a waste of time.

Everyone wants to protect their stuff, don’t they? So here are some ideas of what we should do.

Employ Good Security

This makes sense for most of us. We’ve all seen the words and rating scales of “strong passwords” at some point when setting up an online account. Passwords are the obvious thing we need to protect, so that doesn’t need repeating here. We think you understand the importance of this.

There has been much debate surrounding online privacy within the last decade. And it must be noted there’s a definite distinction between ‘privacy’ and ‘security’ when it comes to your data.

Generally speaking:

  • Security: refers to protecting against unauthorized access of your stuff — such as phishing credit card information, or hacking bank accounts.
  • Privacy: relates to preventing your movements from being tracked for purposes of advertising or monitoring.

Download The Latest Security Updates.

You know those pesky reminders you receive from your computer or phone to install the latest security update? Download those.

As App Designers we at iStratus know Apps can be compromised by problems that people know exist and publicly report. Security “bugs” are always worked upon so such situations can be avoided at a high standard. Thus, update, to get the benefit of security.

Beware of Phishing.

There’s that word again” phishing” 

Not every attack on our security arises through malware or hackers invisibly breaking into your account. Commonly, we’re hoodwinked into divulging our passwords or personal information to some shockingly awful actors.

Bear in mind, iStratus won’t send you anything. So if ever you receive anything claiming to us, it’s not us. And please let us know!

We all recognize, scammers enjoy hitting up our phones, in calls, texts, or emails and there are also signs that these messages aren’t legit. ALWAYS check for spelling or grammatical errors, links to third-party websites other than those these should be linked to, or emails coming directly from a strange domain.

If it feels fishy, it usually is! Trust those instincts!

It’s difficult to protect your privacy online if there aren’t exactly laws to protect it in the first place.

However, in truth blocking some advertising options on major social media platforms does help. It’s a dead giveaway when things you Google show up in Social Media Advertising!!

That said, privacy settings are only so effective, without any actual laws for privacy protection itself.

There are laws involving health and credit and financial information, however, there is much evidence available online that suggests, nationally the U.S. and other countries such as Australia don’t have a universal data privacy law safeguarding our everyday online privacy.

Numerous cyber-security experts propose avoiding “blockers” and so forth as they are frequently inadequate in their effectiveness anyway because of the attention such technology requires. Besides this, it is a multibillion-dollar Ad Tech industry out there. 

Like all values of communication we’ve spoken of, you would probably be better off to advocate for rights to inform policymakers that you wish to see change with today’s online privacy.

“The best lightning rod for your protection is your own spine.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Take One Step at a Time…

When faced with this daunting issue, digital privacy and security can feel uneasy – we understand that. 

Services such as our iStratus “Password Vault” help – even just employing the basics to strengthen and protect your passwords makes a difference. Always having a vigilant eye for scams will make your accounts and information more secure. 

The Internet is not going anywhere – that’s the reality. Thus, the more aware each of us becomes towards understanding how our data is collected and used — the more we can tackle our privacy to keep it private. At iStratus, we want you to feel better and safer in mindset regarding how our digital lives will be for years to come. The only way is up!

Live life and roll well with iStratus.