The holidays are a time for joy and togetherness—but they’re also a time when scammers and cybercriminals are most active. Staying safe requires keeping your personal information out of their hands.
Below are five essential cybersecurity tips for protecting yourself and your loved ones this holiday season.
1. Find and Address Your Personal Data Exposure
Exposed personal information is readily accessible online through data broker sites via a simple Google search. Cybercriminals leverage this data for phishing, smishing, vishing, identity fraud, credential harvesting, password cracking, and more. Optery’s free scan and exposure report provides unmatched visibility into where your info is exposed along with self-service removal tools to help you address it. Don’t have the time? Opt for a paid plan and we’ll handle the removals for you.
Looking to protect your family or team of employees? You can safeguard an unlimited number of family and friends under a single Family Administrator account, with discounts of up to 30% off all your plans. You can also sign up for a free Optery for Business account and get up to 10 free employee basic accounts to assess your exposure and conduct self-service removals. For automated employee personal data monitoring and removal at scale, visit our pricing page to instantly calculate the costs based on your needs.
2. Protect Your Data with the Optery GPC Browser Extension
Install the free and open-source Optery Global Privacy Control (GPC) browser extension, which automatically signals websites not to sell or share your personal information. Available on the Chrome Web Store, this tool helps reduce unwanted tracking and ensures your privacy preferences are respected.
3. Limit What You Share Online (and How Your Data Circulates)
While tools like the Optery GPC browser extension help limit certain types of future data collection on websites you visit, they are not universally honored and do not prevent data brokers from collecting or reselling information obtained through other sources. That’s why reducing how your information re-enters the data ecosystem through everyday activities is still important.
To reduce your exposure:
- Limit what you share on social media and maximize privacy settings
- Use privacy-first browsers like Brave or Firefox to block ad-tech trackers
- Install reputable ad blockers, which reduce behavioral tracking across sites
- Disable personalized ads on platforms like Google and Facebook
- Review and revoke app permissions, especially access to contacts, location, and device identifiers
- Avoid sharing your phone number with stores or online forms whenever possible
- Use an alternate or masked number (such as Google Voice, Hushed, or a similar service) when a phone number isn’t truly required
The less your data circulates, the fewer opportunities attackers have to exploit it. Learn more here.
4. Use a Password Manager
Assume your passwords have either already been exposed or can be easily found and cracked by hackers using your basic contact info. Using the same password or variations of it across accounts makes it easy for bad actors to compromise your accounts. Password managers securely store and generate unique passwords for each account and can also recognize fraudulent websites to protect you from scams.
5. Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
MFA adds a vital layer of security to your accounts. Even if your credentials are compromised, MFA can prevent unauthorized access. Physical MFA tokens (such as FIDO or YubiKeys) provide even greater protection.
Take these simple steps to reduce your risk, help others who may be less tech savvy, and make this holiday season safe and secure for yourself and your loved ones!