This is the last tip in the series. Learn more on how to create a personal disaster recovery plan.
This is the final tip of our 5-part series on “Cybersecurity” entitled, “Create Your Own Personal Disaster Recovery Plan before Disaster Strikes”
If you’ve been following this series closely, you should at this point have all your online login profiles information and credentials identified, documented, prioritized and password-protected. You should have also completed and enabled the best authentication features available to you for each of your online login accounts (e.g. online banking sites, credit card billing sites, Facebook and Twitter to name just a few). Also, as you learned in the last tip, Tip #4, keep each technology system (e.g. smartphone, tablets, PCs and Laptops) up-to-date with patching and security updates at all times; back up your sensitive computer data securely to the Cloud; and finally, “Stop and Think” before you post anything online.
It should be no surprise to you to hear the advice…keep a watchful eye for any suspicious activity on all your online accounts you have just identified and learned about in the previous 4 tips. This vigilance isn’t just related to your online banking accounts, but also applies to your debit and credit card online billing statement activity and even your online utility billing statement activity. It’s important to note that if you do discover a problem with one of your accounts, it should be a red flag for you to pay close attention to all your other accounts as well.
Just like any business, you are going to want to create a personal business continuity and disaster recovery plan that will help you continue your “personal” business following an unforeseen disaster. A personal disaster recovery plan will help you keep your personal “operations” going in the event of physical property disaster, or if your accounts get compromised because of a cyberattack against you. Your plan should be defined and documented to help you recover your access to your online accounts that keep your “personal” business going, as quickly as possible. As you learned in Tip #1, keep the password-protected word processing or spreadsheet document up-to-date of important telephone numbers of the businesses associated with all your online accounts so you can call them easily in the event of identity theft. The same protected document should also have all your credit card numbers and credit card company telephone numbers in case they’re stolen. It is important to have a paper hard copy of this information as well stored in a fire/water proof safe in the event your PC or laptop is compromised or stolen that holds your password-protected document.
With the ever-increasing number of cyberattacks against high-profile targets, it’s now not a question of if you’ll get hacked, but when. Cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility, personal or business alike. The cyberattacks are evolving and businesses are trying to keep up by implementing robust security practices, but many attacks are still successful due to simple lapses in applying common security controls.
There’s no magic bullet-proof shield, but the more safeguards and planning you personally put into action that you’ve learned over the past several weeks, the better prepared you’ll be to defend yourself and recover.