Devices

A few easy habits protect your phone and computer better than anything else: letting them update themselves, and letting them back themselves up. Set each one once, and they work for you forever.

Updates aren't pestering you — they're patching holes

When your phone or computer asks to update, it's (usually) not about new features. Companies constantly find and fix security holes, especially in the AI era (Microsoft recently fixed 600 critical & high severity vulnerabilities in a single week in June). Pushing these software updates back is like not calling the locksmith when your front door is missing a deadbolt.

In the past, many people said that installing updates immediately after they were released could break your computer, but the update process has become much better over the last few years.

After a while, your device may become too old to support the most recent updates, which means your device is no longer secure. When this happens, you should get a new device (it doesn't need all of the bells and whistles) so that you are fully protecting yourself and your data.

Back up your phone

Your phone holds your photos, contacts, and messages — things no one can replace for you. A backup means that if the phone is lost, stolen, or simply dies, everything reappears on the next one. Phones do this automatically overnight once you turn it on: iPhone (iCloud) or Android (Google One).

This might cost a bit of money — Apple iCloud costs anywhere from $0.99 for a small amount of storage up to $9.99 for a lot more. However, this is worth it for the peace of mind alone that the pictures you took on your vacation and the texts from your grandkids aren't lost if your phone breaks or is lost.

Back up your computer

Same idea for the files on your PC or Mac. Two easy routes: keep your documents in a cloud folder that syncs on its own (OneDrive on Windows, iCloud Drive on Mac, Dropbox on either), or plug in an external drive and let the computer copy itself (Time Machine on Mac). Either way, one afternoon of setup means a spilled coffee is an inconvenience instead of a tragedy.

Tap-to-pay is the safest way to pay

Many people look at digital wallets like Apple Pay or Google Wallet as a dangerous thing, like giving your credit card to a random website. But this is not the case. Digital wallets are substantially safer to use than a physical card, for multiple reasons.

• The card can only be used by unlocking your phone, preferably with biometric identification. No stranger can steal that off of your phone, even if they steal it.
• Digital wallets don't send your credit card number, which means that there isn't a number for a criminal to steal. Instead, they send a one-time-only code from your phone to Visa or Mastercard, which is able to securely determine what account you are using and then charge you. There is nothing to skim, nothing to write down, and nothing to use again.
• Digital wallets can be used online as well. Many websites show an Apple Pay or Google Wallet option during checkout, which means that you can keep your credit card off of another company's servers.

Digital wallets make your card much, much harder to compromise.