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Well, the year 2026 has arrived and I hope it turns out to be the best one ever for you.
As you know, hackers and scammers are busier than ever, always on the prowl for ways to steal your identity and separate you from your hard-earned money.
With that in mind, here are my recommended New Years Resolutions that can help protect you and your valuable assets (both tangible and otherwise) while you’re online:
1 – I resolve to install Windows security updates and updates to my software programs and apps as soon after they are released as possible.
2 – I resolve to back up the files on my computer onto an external USB hard drive and store that backup drive in a fireproof lock box (or even better, a bank safety deposit box).
3 – I resolve to remember that I NEVER have to pay to update the drivers for the components and peripherals that are either inside or attached to my computer. I’ll remember that if someone tells me that a driver must be purchased, it’s a scam.
4 – I resolve to install a high-quality anti-malware app on all of my devices to protect them against viruses and other forms of malware.
Malwarebytes protects against a wide variety of threats, not just viruses. That’s why I use it on my own computers and mobile devices and recommend that you do the same.
5 – I resolve to seek a second opinion once every month even when my regular malware scans tell me my system isn’t infected.
6 – I resolve to avoid falling victim to fraudulent emails by never clicking any of the links in an email or text message unless I know with 100% certainty that the link is safe and legit. I’ll go directly to the website in question and log in and/or access the page from there instead.
7 – I resolve to enable two-factor authentication and enable passkeys on all of my online accounts that support them.
8 – I resolve to avoid the numerous Facebook scams that are constantly making the rounds on there.
9 – I resolve to change all the passwords on the sites that don’t yet support passkeys to passwords that are secure, yet easy to remember.
10 – I resolve to choose security questions for my online accounts that are impossible to guess.
11 – I resolve not to believe anyone who calls me on the phone claiming they’re from Microsoft or Apple telling me that my computer is infected with malware. These companies will NEVER call you with such a claim. It just won’t happen. And they won’t tell you to call them in a pop-up message either!
12 – I resolve to never send sensitive personal or financial information to ANYONE via email. Instead, I’ll send it to them by either typing it into a secure form on the recipient’s website or by calling them on the phone at a number that I know 100% to be legit.
There you have it. Those are my New Years Resolutions for keeping my personal and financial information out of the hands of hackers and scammers during the new year. I recommend that you adopt and follow them as well.