Guides: A beginner’s guide to cybersecurity: 15 tips to protect your data and stay safe online

It doesn’t take much to protect yourself from the vast majority of attacks. In this guide, we’ll break down the steps that anyone can follow to improve their digital defenses – both at home and in the office.

One for the office: Keep your work and personal life separate. If you've been given a work computer, remember that it's just that: a device for work. Don't give it to your children to play Fortnite, or to an older relative who is desperate to check their emails. If you have permission to use your device outside of work, take special care to ensure your personal and corporate data is kept separate.

What you will learn

This guide will teach you how to stay secure while using your favorite devices and software. You’ll learn why it’s important to:

  • Keep your devices up to date
  • Use 2FA everywhere it’s offered
  • Switch to a secure messaging app
  • Spot and avoid phishing emails

Use strong, unique passwords for every account. Here’s why: imagine you signed up for a new social network. Then, six months later, it was breached and every user’s password was leaked onto the internet. If you use the same password for everything, including your bank or sensitive work documents, a criminal could use your leaked credentials to access other accounts you own.

Harlie Hardage, Security Training Expert at 1Password

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