One Tech Tip: Why digital devices and online accounts need spring cleaning

If spring makes you want to clean your living space from top to bottom, why not clean up the digital trash that clutters your electronic devices and online accounts at the same time?

Doing the digital equivalent of spring cleaning a house isn’t just an opportunity to get our online lives in order. According to cybersecurity experts, eliminating parasites such as inactive accounts and forgotten files can help protect personal data.

“Clutter is fuel for scammers. Old accounts, exposed data and forgotten apps give them more ways to get in,” said Michael Sherwood, vice president of product at cybersecurity company Malwarebytes. “Cleaning up your digital life is one of the easiest ways to reduce your attack surface in a threat landscape that is becoming increasingly intelligent, fast and automated. »

Here is a digital checklist for spring cleaning:

Do you feel like your phone or laptop is always running out of storage space? All those photos, videos, and other large files that we share or download add up over time.

Lack of internal storage can slow down devices or prevent them from downloading essential operating system updates. Personal gadgets usually come with built-in tools that tell users how to free up space.

On iPhones, go to the settings menu, then General, then iPhone Storage, where you’ll see how much storage is left and which apps and files are consuming the most space. On Android devices, the Storage tab in Settings provides a similar breakdown, with options to free up space manually or automatically.

Windows and Mac computers have similar dashboards and controls in their settings menus to identify the biggest consumers of storage space.

Archive important files by copying them to an external drive, cloud storage, or both, then delete them from the device.

Your inbox is probably a mess: notifications and reminders, receipts, newsletters, tickets, bank and credit card statements, and security warnings, many of which go unread. You may want to keep a few personal missives as well as spam to purge.

Reducing clutter can help increase productivity and focus, and there are tips to make the process less tedious and time-consuming.

Sort or filter your inbox by size to float larger messages (usually those with oversized attachments) to the top for deletion. Do the same by sender or date so you can delete old and unnecessary emails, or large batches from prolific senders.

Now might also be a good time to unsubscribe from mailing lists or newsletters that you no longer read.

Another way to free up space is to go through the apps on your phone and delete the ones you no longer use.

But don’t stop there. If any of these apps require you to create an account, remember to log in and delete the account as well. Otherwise, all the details you provided will remain archived and vulnerable to hackers.

“Every dormant account is an open door. Scammers actively target abandoned logins because no one is looking,” Sherwood said.

Make sure the apps you keep have the latest version by checking the App Store for updates. The same goes for the operating systems on your phone and computer. Check for the latest software updates and patches for the best performance and security.

Cybersecurity experts advise taking the time to audit your digital footprint to see how much exposure you have on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and other social media platforms.

The idea is to “review what personal information is available and limit what apps and services can be accessed,” Sherwood said.

You should check each account’s privacy settings and even consider deleting old posts.

“Limiting publicly available personal information helps reduce the risk of falling victim to cyberattacks such as phishing and identity theft,” said Chad Thunberg, chief information security officer at cybersecurity firm Yubico.

Has a website ever suggested that you sign in with your Facebook or Apple account? Has your smart thermostat or doorbell camera requested access to your Google account?

It’s worth checking which third-party apps and services have access to your accounts. Deleting unnecessary ones is another way to boost your online privacy.

When I checked the “Third Party Applications” of my Google account & “services”, I only found three and I still need them.

My Facebook settings revealed 18 connected apps and services, although all but one were expired. I deleted the remaining active login for a photo book service that I don’t remember using, but which still had access to my name and profile picture.

Strengthen security by reviewing your password practices.

Make sure multi-factor authentication is enabled for your accounts, if you haven’t already.

Better yet, get a password. It’s a “modern login standard” that provides much better security than a traditional password, Thunberg said. Access keys are two parts of a code that only make sense when combined, much like a digital key and a padlock. A growing number of online services and platforms now support passwords, including Google, Amazon, Facebook and eBay.

Access keys must be authenticated with your fingerprint, facial scanner or PIN, meaning “they cannot be tampered with, intercepted or replicated by AI-based attacks,” Thunberg said.

You will need a password manager to store your passwords if you don’t already use one. Apple, Google, and Samsung include their own password manager apps on phones, but there are third-party options like 1Password, BitWarden, Nordpass, and more.

Even if you haven’t started using passwords, you should still use a password manager to keep track of all your login information. Best practice is to use a different password for each account so that if hackers break into one service and steal your password, it won’t work anywhere else. But it is impossible to memorize them all.

“A password manager not only generates strong, unique passwords for each account, but also ensures that users never have to remember them all,” Thunberg said.

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