Security and Privacy When You're Off the Clock

Smart home technology

“Alexa, play my workout playlist and set the thermostat to cool.”

Smart home technology certainly comes in handy, but while our remotely controlled security cameras, thermostats, smart lights, and other gadgets provide convenience, they also come with risk. When setting up new devices, including your WiFi, always make sure to update the default passwords to something unique and secure to limit the chances of someone easily accessing your home network.

Wearables

From watches and rings to smart glasses and VR (Virtual Reality) headsets, wearable technology is becoming commonplace. In fact, according to the PEW Research Center, about one in five Americans use a wearable smart device like a watch or fitness tracker. But many don’t consider the privacy implications of capturing and storing all this health data. While this isn’t inherently bad, it’s important to know who has access to your data and what it’s being used for.

Personal apps

Most people know it’s not good to reuse passwords—or variations of them—on multiple accounts, but many do it anyway. Unfortunately, the online survey you filled out with your pet’s name, childhood street, and birthday could have just given a cybercriminal hints to crack your simple password or security question. And once they’ve got one login, they’ll try it on all your accounts, which is why it’s vital to ensure your passwords are secure and unique.

Securing your household

People often make household passwords simple to type on something other than a keyboard—whether that’s a remote or the device itself. But the shortcuts we take to save time are shortcuts cybercriminals exploit. An extra minute to type your unique, secure password goes a long way. And the easiest and safest way to share these passwords with family, roommates, or friends using your streaming service (hey, we’re not judging!) is our family password manager plan.