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Canada may have conspired to hack mobile phones, but you can protect yourself

A computer screen is pictured at TV5 Monde after the French television network was hacked.
A computer screen is pictured at TV5 Monde after the French television network was hacked.

It’s the modern nightmare: You try to log on to email one morning and find your password doesn’t work. It quickly becomes clear the account has been deleted.

Meanwhile, your Twitter account begins spewing career-suicide vitriol, your bank account is being drained, and your computer is being remotely wiped, so say goodbye to the first five chapters of that Great Canadian Road novel you were working on. You’ve been hacked.

And if you’re not being robbed blind, you still may have someone rooting through your online life.

Last week, we learned that Canada is among several countries that tried to hack into mobile phones with the idea of making the world a safer place (though what that means is open to interpretation).

With that in mind, here are five tips for keeping hackers (of all stripes) at bay:

Be smart about passwords

Having Google at our fingertips has trained us out of the habit of remembering anything, but that doesn’t excuse lazy password craft. It may be easier to remember your dog’s name than random words, but hackers can figure out your dog’s name pretty easily. And if you’re re-using your mainstay password on multiple platforms, you’re really asking for it, says Cyber Security Risk Coach Scott Wright.

“Usually if an attacker learns your user ID on Facebook, they’ll try it on banking sites or even on your work VPN connection and see if that will work. Sometimes it does,” he says.

One option is a password manager, which forces you to remember only one password. But make sure it’s a good one!

Don’t over-share on social media

Yes, I know this goes against instinct, but the truth is that social media is manna for hackers. It’s information that can help them figure out your password preferences, and the security information needed to reset passwords (mother’s maiden name and city of birth are not hard to crack, friends). And beyond just picking your online locks, it can allow an ambitious hacker to impersonate line, and gain access to friends’ lives as well.

Be careful in public places

It’s not just about guarding against shoulder lurkers at the ATM. How many times do you log in to some platform at a library or at school and then leave it all open when you sneak out for a bagel? You might as well just leave your wallet and keys on a park bench with your address and instructions on feeding the fish.

Don’t link social media accounts

Again, this goes against social media instincts, but every time you link different platforms, you’re leaving a trail of breadcrumbs. If the worst happens, having everything linked will just make it easier for the online invader to ruin your life. Wright suggests spreading yourself among many platforms, like using a Google calendar, but a Yahoo email.

Be suspicious

We may soon migrate everything to the cloud, but be aware that that puts your information entirely in the care of companies staffed by people who can make mistakes. Recent examples have shown vulnerabilities in public Wi-Fi, so maybe wait to check your bank balance when you get home. Don’t open attachments unless you’re sure what they are, and don’t trust the email from your cousin about miracle weight-loss drugs, because it’s not really her than sent it.

It takes a bit more work, but less work than rebuilding your stolen online life.