May 25 is a special day. It’s the Geek Pride day, when geeks celebrate their geekiness and spread it to other people. Do you think that this doesn’t apply to you? That geeks are just socially awkward human beings? Think again. Geeks are smart and passionate about their hobbies, whatever they might be: cars, space, video games, or sports.
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Geeks might feel alienated because their hobbies might not align with the majority of the population, but in the day and age of the internet, finding the community of like-minded individuals could not be any easier. So if you landed on this page, you are a bit like us — a bit of a geek too. You care about online security, and you want to know more. And if you ask us at NordPass, we think being a geek is the new cool.
So today, we want to spread what we know best — how to be geeky about online security.
Learn cybersecurity lingo
It’s going to be difficult to be a geek and discuss cybersecurity issues and trends if you don’t know the terminology. If you are new to this, familiarize yourself with what’s what. Learn to distinguish password salting from password peppering, find out what classifies as a data breach, and how TLS protects you every time you visit an HTTPs website.
Take care of your devices
Your hardware and software can make or break your online security. So make sure you update your software regularly. Tech companies work tirelessly to fix all the bugs before they are exploited by hackers, so help them help you. Also, use antivirus and perform regular scans.
Spring-clean your social media accounts
Social media accounts are for sharing; however, we all tend to share a little bit too much sometimes. Did you know that hackers can use that information against you? If you use your dog’s name as a password, photos with him and a caption ‘I love Marley’ might lead to a breach. Social media is a goldmine for hackers. Go through your accounts and see whether you’ve ever published any sensitive information about yourself.
Use secure video conferencing tools
Chatting online is great, though sometimes you need to join a video call, whether it would be for work or for a Dungeons and Dragons session. However, not all video conferencing tools are safe. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, Zoom started booming, which also brought to light its poor security standards. Choose your video conferencing platform wisely and follow these tips.
Listen to cybersecurity podcasts
Now that you know the ABC of cybersecurity, you can delve even deeper. Learn about the latest technology, its issues, hacks, and everything in between from weekly podcasts. We created our own list, so next time you have 20 minutes to kill, give one of these a go. Promise, you’ll have endless topics to talk about when you meet other geeks. Who said we are antisocial?
Change your passwords
Good password hygiene is essential if you want to be a cybersecurity geek. The stronger the password, the safer your accounts are. You should never reuse them because if you do, you become vulnerable to credential stuffing attacks.
It’s also advisable to regularly change your passwords and make sure they’re unique. Make them long and use digits, symbols, upper and lower case letters. It might not be easy at first, so try the NordPass password generator. It will design one for you.
Keep your passwords safe and organized
When you changed your passwords to unique ones, the next question that arises is: how can you remember them all? Simple. Keep them in a password manager, like NordPass. Download the app on all devices you have. Your login credentials will sync automatically, so you’ll be able to access them whenever you need them, even offline. You can also use it as a browser extension, autosave, and autofill your passwords with a click.
Get geeky with NordPass. Autofill your strong passwords with a single click.