Digital Security 101: How I obliterated 100+ online accounts

Growing up in the digital age, I felt like I was always doing the right things to keep myself secure. I’d have strong passwords, wouldn’t open suspicious emails, and be smart about what I was putting online. I thought I was safe.

SPOILER ALERT: I was wrong!

This past year I had hacking attempts on my PayPal, Venmo, and AOL accounts. And the dealership I purchased a car from was victimized by a ransomware attack. Luckily it appears nothing of harm was done.

But this emboldened me to take some steps

1. Two Factor Authentication EVERYTHING

Most major online companies offer two factor authentication in two forms; the common SMS verification, and expanding variety of Authentication Apps (i..e Google Authenticator).

Long passwords no one can seemingly remember are not as helpful as this simple strategy — just don’t lose your cell phone.

2. Tag your Email Addresses with +ACCOUNT

A little known email feature is one’s ability to add a +Tag with any account (i.e. joe+facebook@gmail.com)

This will not only tell you who is selling your data around the internet, but also keep your accounts more secure and in order.

3. Setup “I Need” and I” Use” rules for accounts

This was a simple question for me to stop being an account hoarder.

Q: “Am I using the app?” No “Do I need the app”? No “Let’s delete it!”

This left me purging over 100 old accounts, some of which weren’t touched in years while others were simply underutilized or had a duplicated purpose.

4. Consolidate multiple accounts

In some cases (Microsoft, PayPal, ESPN) I found multiple accounts made online and on phones in the past 10 years. Even though I use these frequently

5. Use Google (+ others) Login

You can login to most accounts with a Google Account, while Apple, Facebook, LinkedIn and others offer similar services. This will keep your accounts better strung together.

6. Find & Catalogue Accounts

Major accounts allow user access to application connection logs (Facebook, Google, etc) that also allow you to disable access.

This was important in building a spreadsheet list of all my accounts, and which ones I had certain security on.