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Social/Personal Vulnerabilities Security Checklist

Intro:

Many data breaches, hacks, and attacks are caused by human error. The following list contains steps you should take to reduce the risk of this happening to you. Many of them are common sense, but plenty of smart people are duped if they are not paying attention and actively looking out for these potential mistakes.

Checklist

Critical and Essential Activities

  • Beware of Phishing/Social Engineering Attacks
    Priority: Critical
    Be skeptical of unsolicited requests for information, even if they appear to come from a trusted source, such as your bank, a friend, or a family member.
    Phishing is a type of cyber attack or scam where attackers trick individuals into revealing sensitive information, such as passwords or credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in electronic communications. It works like "fishing," using bait to lure targets into clicking harmful links or providing confidential data. Phishing attacks often use social engineering to seem like a legitimate request.
    Beware of phone calls or messages that offer or ask for money, that say you need to fix problems with your computer when you haven't asked for it, that claim your account will be closed if you don't respond, that claim that they have "embarassing" personal information that they will expose, or that pretend to be from a relative/child/grandchild/friend in need of emergency money. How to recognize and avoid phishing scams - FTC.gov Consumer Advice

  • Verify Senders and Recipients
    Priority: Critical
    E-mails can be easily spoofed and e-mail scams are common and clever. Verify that the sender is who they say they are: Check that the e-mail address is one you are already familiar with, and use a secondary channel to confirm if something seems changed or odd (i.e. call your friend to confirm if they intended to send the message).
    If an e-mail raises suspicions, and you are not sure if it is legitimate, do not reply, forward, click on the links, scan QR codes, open attachments, or send any sensitive information.
    Always check the URL address to confirm your destination and even type a URL manually rather than clicking on suspicious links in emails. Do not respond to emails promising money, checking on the delivery of a package you didn't order, threatening you if you don't send them bitcoin, insisting that you must "act now", or saying you need to verify an account.

  • Don't Trust Popup Notifications
    Priority: Essential
    Fake pop-ups can be deployed by malicious actors. Always check the URL before entering any information on a popup.

  • Never Leave Your Device Unattended
    Priority: Essential
    Unattended devices can be compromised even with strong passwords. Use encryption and remote erase features like Find My Phone for lost devices.

  • Store Personal Data Securely
    Priority: Essential
    Ensure all personal data on devices or in the cloud is encrypted to protect against unauthorized access.

  • Use Virtual Cards when Paying Online
    Priority: Recommended
    Set up one or more virtual credit cards on your credit card account and/or on Privacy.com. Use them for all online purchases and to segment between different kinds of purchases and for sites you trust less. Also consider using separate credit cards for recurring payments (utility bills, subscriptions, donations, etc.) vs. a card for daily shopping.

  • Enable Biometrics Carefully
    Priority: Recommended
    Use TouchID/FaceID for convenience, but know that in some jurisdictions, you can be legally compelled to provide a fingerprint but not a password.

  • Review Application Permissions
    Priority: Recommended
    Regularly review and manage app permissions to ensure no unnecessary access to sensitive device features.

  • Opt-out of Public Lists
    Priority: Recommended
    Remove yourself from public databases and marketing lists to reduce unwanted contacts and potential risks.

  • Review and Update Social Media Privacy Settings
    Priority: Recommended
    Regularly check and update your social media settings due to frequent terms updates that may affect your privacy settings.

  • Be Cautious with using AI Clients
    Priority: Recommended
    As a rule of thumb: Don’t rely on the answers from Artificial Inteligence where you don’t already know the answers you want.

Advanced Activities

  • Compartmentalize
    Priority: Advanced
    Keep different areas of digital activity separate to limit data exposure in case of a breach. Use different e-mail addresses for differnt areas of personal activity (work, banking, volunteer work, etc.) Use different web browsers or browser "Profiles/Personas" for different projects to keep logins and cookies separate from each other. Use different cloud storage services or user accounts for these different areas of your life. Always use different login names and passwords for different accounts.