Thriving The Future Ep. 53 – Information Security Tips

Tips and Tricks to Help You Be More Secure Online

Mike from Paratus Radio is back and we deep dive on Information Security Tips.

Did you know that identity theft is now targeting kids? A friend’s daughter reached 18 and she went to get a car loan, but her identity has already been stolen and debt incurred against her. And Mike is getting insurance and credit ads in the mail for his 11 yo son.

A credit freeze can help this. Just one of the tips you will learn in this episode.

Information Security Tips:

Download Privacy Quickstart Tips PDF – provided by Mike from ParatusRadio.com.

Excerpt below (used by permission):

Use a Password Manager – You need an encrypted way to record information and to generate strong, unique passwords for each account. Store other information such as credit card numbers, passport and driver license scans, backup phrases for cryptocurrency wallets, software licenses, secure notes, etc. Start with one account, then add accounts as you gain confidence using a password manager.
- BitWarden – Free/Paid – Secure cloud-based password manager
- LastPass – Free/Paid – Secure cloud-based password manager (Free is not as good as before)
Implement Two-factor Authentication (2FA) on All Accounts – SMS codes to verify your login are much better than nothing, but are still vulnerable to “Sim Swapping”. A generated one-time code from an Authenticator App (better), or a physical device like a YubiKey (best) greatly increases your account security. Google purchased a YubiKey for each of their employees to increase security.
- Authy – Free – Cloud based Software Authenticator with backup
- BitWarden Authenticator – Paid – Part of BitWarden and is backed up with it
- LastPass Authenticator – Free – Software Authenticator that Is backed up with LastPass
Implement a Credit Freeze for every member of your household (yes, even for your kids) – A Credit Freeze is now free for all adults and children. Identity theft of minors is a growing problem because it can take years to discover a problem. Get the free Intel Techniques Credit Freeze Workbook on how to do this.
Do a digital account review, cleanup, and then migrate to encrypted platforms – Delete unneeded data for accounts that you do not need anymore, randomize account information, then delete. Move from less secure and less private services (Yahoo, Hotmail, OneDrive, Evernote, etc.) to encrypted and privacy-focused services. Look for ones that are “Zero Knowledge”.
- Protonmail – Free/Paid – Encrypted email at rest and to other Protonmail accounts.
- Tutanota – Free/Paid – Encrypted email at rest and to other Tutanota accounts.
- Proton Drive – Cloud storage.
- Dropbox
Protect your phone number – Sim-swapping is on the rise, so do not give out your real phone number and use Virtual Numbers. Use a different Virtual Number for Family, Friends, Work, and other situations. Marketers use your mobile number to track and uniquely identify you.
- Google Voice – Free/Paid – Allows Virtual Numbers to forward to your mobile number. Can pay to transfer your old phone numbers to Google Voice.
- MySudo – Paid – Use one, three, or nine virtual phone numbers on your mobile device.
Protect your email address – Do not give out your real email address; give out a unique disposable email alias to mailing lists, or more secure alias for important email (Bank, Doctors, Insurance, Bills). This gives you an added level of security plus you can more easily sequester spam to certain email addresses.
- ~~Abine Blur~~ – Create masked emails forwarded to your real email. It will mask your email even on the reply. (Note that Abine Blue is no longer recommended due to its purchase by IronVest. We now recommend SimpleLogin.io).
- Protonmail, Tutanota – Paid – have configurable email aliases for important email
Protect your Credit and Debit Cards – Do not give out your real Card information to companies. We have seen large data breaches in the last decade.
- Privacy.com (associate link) – Free – One time use or limited Debit cards locked to the Vendor. If the card number is stolen then it can’t be used anywhere else. They get paid by the seller, so it’s free for you.
- Abine Blur – Paid – Masked Credit Cards
- MySudo – Paid – Masked Credit Cards
Secure your data in motion (VPN) – Internet browsing, SMS texting, and phone call metadata are all visible to your ISP or phone provider. This information is sold. Use encrypted communications and use a recommended VPN provider on your devices and home router.
- ProtonVPN – Free/Paid – a Virtual Private Network that secures your internet traffic
Use privacy-oriented software – Remove unused apps. Run any suspicious or problematic software inside a virtual machine or software sandbox.
- Firefox Web browser
- Brave Web browser

Listen to the episode for more tips.

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