What is Cyber Security and Why is it Important?

What is Cyber Security and Why is it Important?

This month, I will be discussing cyber security in detail. You might be asking yourself why such a shift away from productivity? Well, for two reasons:

1) I believe cyber security and productivity go hand-in-hand

2) I have some interesting lessons to share with you from my own experience later on!

Cyber security is the protection of information online. One of the big items that are a threat when talking about cyber attacks are your bank details. Someone hacking into your account or stealing your credit card can be detrimental to your productivity and life.

We all have had someone make false charges on our card before. If you haven’t – keep up whatever it is you are doing!

However, some consumers might think that cyber security is a task for cyber experts and not for the average citizen.

This is where I beg to disagree. In order to explain my thoughts, I want to talk a bit about the history of internet usage

Use Your Resources

When the internet first arrived in mass in the late 1980s and 1990s, not many people had computers and definitely no smartphones, which is just a small computer in your pocket.

It wasn’t until the 2000s that computers became mainstream in homes. But even then, reliance on the internet for work and communication was not a high priority.

Around 2011/2012, is when we started to see the “boom” of computer and smartphone usage. One example of this “boom” is that we used to carry a phone and a camera, but now our smartphone is our camera.

Another: we used to send letters in the mail, but now we get instant messages – email or text – straight to our phone at anytime.

It might have been true back in the 1980s and 90s to rely on cyber experts to protect us from cyber attacks when our internet lives were limited, but now, society as a whole is very connected to the online world and we need to take more ownership for our own individual cyber welfare.

Cyber-Security & Productivity

Now, you might be asking, OK Megan, we understand what it is, why it is important, but how is cyber security connected to productivity?

Let me ask you this first:

When we have a false charge on our credit card, doesn’t it take more of our time to figure out how to get rid of it? Then, doesn’t it take even more time to receive a new credit card?

When we spend time doing things that was originally NOT on the to-do list, how is that productive?

Granted, we cannot eliminate these types of attacks and scammers completely and forever as much as we wish it, but we can try limiting their opportunities so we don’t spend too much time on them.

How to Protect Yourself from Cyber Attacks  

There are a few ways the average user can protect themselves from cyber attacks so they can keep being productive in the future. Here are 3 ways you can protect yourself today.

Watch Your Bank

We pay our credit card bill once a month, at least. However, the cyber experts recommend taking an active vigilance over your bank statements and bank accounts. It is better to check more often for any signs of a false charge or scam.

Along this note, sign up for notifications from your bank when they see a strange charge or activity. This still might be you, but it is better to get notified than not.

Update Your Password Frequently

For your bank and all other accounts, it is best to change your password frequently. Experts say that the best password DO NOT HAVE words or numbers associated with important dates like birthdays or weddings. The reason being is because these are easy to guess since this information is easy to find.

The experts also recommend having more sentences as passwords with numbers and special characters. For example:

Ilikeeatingredapples1!

Guard the Privacy of Your Information

My final tip to how to protect yourself from cyber attacks is to guard your privacy and your information.

Next article, I will re-discuss our vital information and how to make sure they are guarded properly in your treasure chest.

You can read a past article here.

Remember, protecting your online self and your digital world in general will lead you to to have a more productive future.

How to Protect Yourself from Cyber Attacks  

If you are not sure how to coordinate your productivity, but are ready to start, join my “Expand Productivity Program” and let’s get started discussing your tasks, your goals, and protecting your digital world.

If you aren’t sure about productivity in general, sign up for a free 30 minute call!