Everyone and Their Mother Is Worried About Getting Hacked

Everyone is getting hacked these days.

At the end of last year, my old colleague Christina Warren wrote that 2014 was the year large scale hacks became the norm. And that was before this year's hacks, which included the breaches of the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Experian/T-Mobile, Ashley Madison, and Hacking Team.

If you're scoring at home, those are major data breaches at a US government agency tasked with keeping highly sensitive information on all government workers, a company that's supposed to store data such as social security numbers safely, an adultery site that promised total confidentiality, and a surveillance company that helps government hack other people.

You might be sensing a trend: no one seems to be safe—and this makes everyone worried.

A new survey published on Tuesday revealed that "millennials" (people between the age of 16 and 35) don't trust any business with keeping their data safe. A few weeks ago, another survey revealed that only 17 percent of college students' mothers don't think computer security is necessary, meaning the majority think it's a good idea.

These surveys are, in a way, stating the obvious. But they reflect an important reality: people are starting to care about the security of their data. As a Motherboard reader recently told me, "information security either will or already is experiencing a Streisand effect."

And that's a good thing. The problem is that most people still don't understand how to stay secure online. Being safe online doesn't entail simply using a certain app, such as an antivirus, or even just a box—or a tinfoil suit.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the OPSEC suit. Jonathan ZdziarskiOctober 13, 2015

This is not a problem that can be solved with a "one size fits all" solution. It's a process, there's a learning curve, you need to follow various best practices, and you'll need to tailor your approach depending on who you are.

In general, if you want a short list: use good passwords, keep your stuff up to date, and don't think you can throw money at an easy fix or solve everything with one app.

Antiviruses, the products that for more than a decade were marketed as the solution to most of our cybersecurity problems, are not a panacea. The most important thing you can do to avoid getting hacked is have good passwords. And given that no one can remember 27 unique, good (i.e. long and random) passwords, password managers are a must—yet only only 2 percent out of regular internet users (i.e. not security professionals) use them.

The second thing you can do is update your software, both on your computer, as well as your phone. Most hacks, even those carried out by government spies, take advantage of software holes or vulnerabilities that have long been fixed by the manufacturer, but that most users haven't implemented yet. Keeping your apps and operating system up to date is one of the easiest ways to sat safe, as Google explained in a study earlier this year.

Also be cognizant of what information you share online. Online porn webcam performers know that they need to hide certain information, and practice what's called good OPSEC (as in operational security.) We can all learn a thing or two from them.

So, millennial kids, it's OK not to trust third parties with your data, but take precautions yourself, and tell your mothers—and fathers!—to do the same.