Author: Jeff Weeks, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer
- What is your digital footprint?
- Steps you can take to clean it up and protect yourself.
- Online security is an ongoing commitment.
You have a greater digital footprint than you realize, and it could be putting you in danger. Every time you click, post, or log into an account online, you leave a trail. That trail can get messy over time with old information, forgotten accounts, and data that has been made public.
In honor of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, take a few minutes to clean up your online presence. It's one of the simplest ways to keep your information safe and make yourself less vulnerable to online dangers.
What Is a Digital Footprint?
Your digital footprint includes:
- Profiles and postings on social media
- Accounts on the internet (both active and inactive)
- Cookies that track and save your search history
- Credentials that were leaked in data breaches
Seven Steps for Cleaning Up Your Digital Footprint
1. Check Out Your Online Presence. Look yourself up on Google and see what’s publicly visible. Check social media, forums, blogs, and old accounts. Online tools are available to help you identify accounts that may have been hacked.
2. Delete Accounts You Don't Use. It's easy for hackers to attack old accounts. Look in your inbox for sign-up confirmations and cancel any accounts you no longer use. There are online tools available to help with this, too. Search for services that can help you identify and delete your unused accounts.
3. Make Privacy Settings Stricter
Check the settings on your apps, browsers, and social media. Limit who can see what you're doing and turn off location tracking.
4. Remove Personal Information from Data Brokers
Opt out of sites like Spokeo and Whitepages that publish your name, address, and other information.
5. Clean up Your Social Media Pages
Log onto your social media accounts and remove old posts, pictures, tags, and mentions. You’ll need to log into each social media site and do this manually. The effort is well worth the time invested because it removes personal information that can be used to impersonate you or your contacts.
6. Protect Your Accounts
Use a password manager to generate strong and unique passwords. Set up multi-factor authentication (MFA) and login notifications or security alerts wherever possible.
7. Limit Future Exposure
When you sign up for things that aren't important, use aliases or burner emails, and be careful what you publish online. Limit account creation and use guest-checkout where possible.
Make it a Habit
Be proactive about protecting your digital footprint and keeping your online presence clean and safe. Set a reminder for every three months to review what’s publicly available about you online. Some data-cleaning services will provide you with a quarterly email report to help make quarterly monitoring a habit.
Share, Share, Share
Send this post to your family and friends and ask them to join in on this Cybersecurity Awareness Month activity. It starts with each of us to make the digital world safer.
About the Author
Jeff has been with First National Bank of Omaha for more than 26 years and is currently the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer. The executive leadership and oversight provided by Jeff in the development, management, and execution of information security for FNBO enables the company’s ability to posture and protect private, personal information, and assets of the company’s clients, employees, and business partners.
