Protecting Yourself

Your Online Identity

Cybercrime is big business and a real danger to everyone who goes online: ask anyone who has ever had their identity stolen. There are things you can do to protect yourself.

If you use the same password for all websites or overshare on Facebook you will be a target for cybercriminals. Three important steps to keep yourself and your data safe online are:

• use strong passwords (use may want to use a password manager)
• Use multi-factor authentication
• control your privacy settings
• choose whether or not to accept cookies

Browse this helpful advice:

• Online Safety Basics
• Stop, Think, Connect: General Tips
• How to Create a Secure Password
• Why you should use a password manager

This sound advice for students from the University of Sheffield applies to everyone:

Digital Footprints

Your Digital Footprint is the trail of data you create when using the internet. Each and every action you take online leaves a trace, and this builds up over time to create a unique online profile, which may not be as private as you think. In fact, it should probably be considered a "Digital Tattoo" - something more or less permanent.

This includes everything you visit including: 

• websites 
• email 
• blogs
• photos 
• comments on social media, and a lot more  

Wherever possible, it is a good idea to go back through your profiles and posts and delete anything you don't want publicly accessible.

Things to keep in mind when sharing information online, from the University of Derby:

For more information:

• Your Digital Footprint and Why You Need to Manage It
• How to Lock Down your Facebook Privacy Settings