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LESSON 5 / of 6

Data & privacy

Why personal details are raw material for attacks, how breaches spread, and the backup that turns disaster into inconvenience.

Check a password against breach lists

Data & privacy

Privacy is a security topic because information about you is raw material for attacks. Your mother's maiden name, your first school, your pet's name, your birthday and your employer are all things people post freely, and all things that answer security questions, personalise a phishing email or help someone impersonate you to your bank.

A breach is when a company that holds your data loses it to attackers. You cannot prevent breaches at other organisations, but you can limit the damage: give services only the information they really need, use a unique password on each so one breach does not spread, and know which accounts hold your payment details.

Backups are the other piece. Ransomware locks your files and demands payment; a hardware failure or a stolen laptop does the same without the note. A recent copy of what matters, kept somewhere the original device cannot reach, turns a disaster into an inconvenience.

Common myth"A VPN makes me anonymous and secure." A VPN hides your traffic from the local network, which is useful on public Wi-Fi. It does nothing against phishing, weak passwords, or malware, and the VPN company can see what your network provider used to see.
Do these
  1. Set up a backup that runs by itselfCloud backup for your phone, and automatic backup for your computer. Test once that you can actually restore a file.
  2. Answer security questions with nonsense"First pet" does not have to be true. Store the fake answer in your password manager.
  3. Review what your accounts holdRemove saved cards you do not use, close accounts you have abandoned, and check which apps you have granted access to your email or social accounts.