CyberSafety Awareness Week: 5 Habits That Make You Instantly Safer Online

Welcome to CyberSafety Awareness Week! Every day this week, I’m sharing practical, real-world tips anyone can use to stay safer online—no tech background needed.

Today we’re starting with the foundation: the five habits that stop the majority of online threats I see in client devices. These are simple, low-effort, and make a massive difference if you do them consistently.

1. Slow down before clicking anything

Scammers rely on urgency—“Your package is delayed,” “Your account is locked,” “You owe money,” “Confirm your bank details.”

If a message (email, text, pop-up, or website) makes you feel panicked or rushed, that’s your red flag.

Take 5 seconds, breathe, and look closer:

• Check the sender

• Hover over links before clicking

• Look for spelling mistakes or weird phrasing

• Ask yourself: Would this company normally contact me this way?

That tiny pause prevents a ton of headaches later.

2. Keep your devices updated

Updates aren’t about new features—they’re about security fixes.

Attackers constantly scan for outdated phones, routers, and computers because old software has known holes.

Make it a habit to:

• Install updates on your phone and computer

• Update your apps

• Restart your devices occasionally

• Log into your router once in a while and apply firmware updates

If you do nothing else this week, do this.

3. Use strong, unique passwords

Reusing passwords is one of the biggest risks I see.

If one website gets hacked (and it happens all the time), attackers try that same password everywhere—email, banking, shopping… everything.

Instead:

• Use a password manager to generate and store your passwords

• Make each password unique 

• Store your recovery codes in a safe place

• Avoid using birthdays, pets, or anything public

A password manager does the heavy lifting, and you only need to remember one master password.

4. Turn on two-factor authentication (2FA)

Even if someone has your password, 2FA blocks them.

It’s one of the most effective security tools ever created.

Best options (in order):

1. Authenticator app (Google Authenticator, Authy, Microsoft)

2. Text message (still better than nothing)

3. Security keys (advanced users)

Turn it on for:

• Email

• Banking

• Shopping accounts

• Social media

• Anything connected to money or identity

5. Back up your files regularly

Backups turn a disaster into an inconvenience.

If you’re hit with malware, a dead hard drive, or a lost device, a good backup means you keep your photos, documents, and everything else.

Use both:

• Cloud backup (iCloud, OneDrive, Google)

• External drive (automatic Time Machine or File History)

If one fails, the other saves you.

CyberSafety Week: What’s Coming Up

Each day this week we’ll build on these steps with easy, practical guides covering:

• How to spot phishing instantly 

• How scammers target everyday users 

• Privacy settings you should change right now 

• Backup strategies that actually work 

• The most common mistakes I see in real client sessions 

• And a Friday wrap-up checklist

If you want help tightening up your devices, you can always schedule a remote session—this is what I do every day.