Cyber Hygiene for Content Marketers: How to Safeguard Your Personal Information

Intro

In the world of online business and content creation, one of the most important things you need to do for your brand is to make it stand out from the crowd. Content marketers are always striving to make their voices heard by promoting their businesses and brands using as many channels as possible. That includes creating multiple login accounts to access tools that simplify their jobs.

However, signing up for these tools can come at a cost, especially if you’re not careful. Cybercriminals will prey on unsuspecting people by hacking their accounts and stealing their sensitive data, in order to sell it to third parties.

In this blog, we will cover some simple, yet effective tips you can follow to protect yourself from these attacks and safely carry out your content marketing plans.

Educate Yourself on the Latest Cybersecurity Trends

Here are the latest cybersecurity trends below to fix vulnerabilities and prevent cybercriminals from exploiting your systems:

• Blockchain technology- The security advantages in data handling and transactions within blockchain technology are rapidly gaining traction. Staying informed about blockchain development can offer insights into improving your security measures.
• Ransomware - This malicious software blocks user data access until a ransom is paid. For content marketers, a ransomware attack could mean the loss of crucial work and client information.
• Phishing scams - These involve sending fraudulent communications that appear to come from reputable sources. Although easier said than done at times, it is essential to be vigilant and scrutinize the emails and messages you receive.
• Cloud security threats - With more data stored on the cloud now than ever before, unauthorized access and data breaches continue to present sizable risks to businesses. Causes that enable these threats range from improper setup of cloud resources to overloading cloud services with traffic, also known as denial of service (DoS) attacks.
• Brute force attacks - Attempts to crack passwords can compromise your accounts. Use complex, unique passwords and consider multi-factor authentication for an added layer of protection. Plus, perform a password strength test regularly to ensure your passwords are secure and resilient against unauthorized access.

It’s one thing to be familiar with these things. It’s another to receive education and training from organizations that have at least earned entry-level cyber security certifications. The latter enhances your knowledge and cloud security posture to stay ahead of cybercriminals.

Secure Your Wi-Fi Connection

Securing your Wi-Fi is essential to protect against cyber threats that could compromise your valuable marketing data. A vulnerable connection can serve as an entry point for attackers, possibly leading to data breaches or loss of sensitive information.

For starters, you must update your router firmware to its current version. Most manufacturers frequently release updates to patch security vulnerabilities, so be on the lookout for them.

When enabling encryption on your Wi-Fi connection, choose WPA3 for the best security. It offers robust and individualized data encryption and limits the number of guesses attackers can make when accessing your connection. If WPA3 is unavailable, at least enable WPA2.

Also, avoid using default or personal information in your Wi-Fi network's name, known as your Service Set Identifier (SSID). Create a nondescript name that isn't easily associated with you or your business, and avoid automatic connections from devices previously connected to your Wi-Fi.

Furthermore, turn off Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS). When enabled, WPS lets you connect your devices to Wi-Fi using a PINat the cost of making your Wi-Fi susceptible to brute-force attacks. While disabling WPS is initially inconvenient, the added security is more than worth it.

Use Strong and Unique Passwords with 2FA

Safeguarding your digital accounts is paramount in cybersecurity. Strong, unique passwords combined with Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) form a robust defense against unauthorized access. This goes to the software you use for developing and launching your content marketing strategy and campaigns.

You can determine a password’s strength by its length and complexity. The longer your password and the more diverse its characters (uppercase, lowercase, numbers, symbols), the harder cyber attackers will have to guess it.

As an added measure, don’t include actual words in your password, especially words people can easily guess and associate with you. Using random strings of characters makes your password even more robust.

One common mistake that people make is using the same password across multiple accounts. While this makes remembering your login credentials easier, once cyberattackers figure out your master password, they can easily access all of your accounts. So, it’s best practice to use a strong password for your profiles and accounts to increase your security.

Use a tool like LastPass to make this task more convenient for you. It can generate unique passwords whenever you create an account for a website on your browser. It then saves and encrypts all your passwords so you can only access them on a device level.

Also, whenever you log in to your accounts, LastPass will automatically fill out the credentials, so you don’t have to!

Add an extra verification step by setting up two-factor authentication (2FA) if possible. To enable it, you will need to install the Google Authenticator app on your mobile device.

After logging in to your account with your username and password, you will need to input the code that appears on the authenticator app. Having this dual-layered approach helps make your accounts secure because only you have access to the code from the app, which makes breaking into your account next to impossible.

Regularly Update Software

If you install apps on the devices you use as a content marketer, like multimedia software for SEO, always update them to maintain cyber hygiene. Software manufacturers and publishers regularly release updates that do more than just enhance features; they close security gaps and fix vulnerabilities. As a result, it protects your assets from cyber threats.

Publishers usually email to inform you that an update is ready for download. Read the patch notes to understand the changes the update will make to your software.

There should be an option to turn on automatic updates to ensure immediate application of the latest security patches. This way, you don’t have to update them manually.

But before updating your applications, read through reactions from the online community about the latest patch.

The update could cause performance or compatibility issues on your device or other apps. For instance, some WordPress updates in the past caused certain plugins to not work correctly.

So, while you want to remain safe and secure, you must also consider usability and synergy among your tools. Striking the balance between the two will be important moving forward if you want to execute the best content marketing campaign for your brand.

Hide Your Browsing History with a VPN

Source

When crafting your online content strategy, it's vital to ensure the confidentiality of your browsing history. If cybercriminals can access it, they can use it to launch a scam attack on you, leaving you vulnerable to fraud and identity theft.

This is why a virtual private network (VPN) can be a significant asset in maintaining digital privacy.

It masks your IP address, making it difficult for third parties and ISPs to track you. A VPN also secures data through encryption protocols, safeguarding information from hackers and snoopers. Best of all, it follows a strict no-logging policy, meaning they don't store records of your internet activity.

There’s no shortage of quality VPNs to choose from, but it’s best to try each one first to identify the one you’re most comfortable using, and that fits your needs.

At the same time, VPNs are not the be-all and end-all of online security. It ultimately depends on the sites you visit, which could still track your browsing behavior. Also, VPNs can only protect the transfer of data to and from your devices–they don't protect the data on your devices from other types of vulnerabilities, like malware or phishing attacks.

Observe Email Security Practices

Safeguarding your email communications is crucial in your role as a content marketer. This is especially true if you run blogger outreach campaigns to build relationships with influencers in your space and spread the word about your business.

Most of your communication likely relies on email. With that said, you need to observe email security practices to defend yourself against cyber threats to ensure the success of your outreach efforts.

First, use email software solutions that beef up data security from spam and phishing threats and improve your productivity.

You should also implement the following email authentication methods below to protect your domain from being used for cybercriminal activities:

• Sender Policy Framework (SPF) - Specify and authorize mail servers that can send email on your behalf.
• DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) - Sign messages with a digital signature verified on the recipient’s end to authenticate your email and ensure it has not been tampered with during transit.
• Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC): Determine how emails failing SPF and DKIM checks should be handled (e.g., rejected, quarantined, or allowed). This allows you to identify and stop fraudulent email practices more effectively.

Don't forget about data protection regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, and other relevant laws, which include obtaining consent before sending emails and providing an explicit opt-out mechanism.

Thanks to these regulations, users can manage their digital footprint and keep it under their control. Because every online service has its own opt-out procedure, and it’s not always immediately evident, using data broker opt-out guides can help you streamline the whole process. This enables you to get consent from people upon receiving your email and what they expect to receive from you moving forward.

Back-Up Your Data and Always Be Safe

When the worst happens, you need a fail-safe to recover your content marketing data if cyber attacks compromise it. So, protect your digital assets and the continuity of your work by backing them up in various ways.

Use local backups (external hard drives or NAS devices) and cloud storage to cover your bases. Aim to back up data daily–check weekly to ensure the process is consistently successful. If possible, use automated backup solutions to prevent human error or forgetfulness.

We take such preventive actions to always have a plan B in case anything happens. There are a few other things you can do to bullet-proof your business in the event that everything goes sideways.

If you’re concerned about the safety of your loved ones, consider getting life insurance for your business, which is another form of backup. If you unfortunately pass away due to unforeseen circumstances, you can allow your family to live comfortably and your content marketing business to thrive.

Conclusion

The key tenet of cyber hygiene is keeping your devices squeaky clean to prevent malicious attacks. By following the advice above, you should be able to keep your content marketing campaigns free from online threats and walk the digital world with a smile on your face.