THERE ARE TWO big reasons why people get hacked. Flaws in software and flaws in human behavior. While there’s not much you can do about coding vulnerabilities, you can change your own behavior and bad habits.

Just ask former US president Donald Trump, whose Twitter password was “maga2020!” Or Boris Johnson, who revealed details of sensitive Zoom calls at the start of the pandemic in 2020. (These world leaders will have had specific security training from protection agencies too.)

The risks are just as real for the average person—even if the stakes aren’t quite so high. If your accounts aren’t properly protected, your credit card could be compromised or your private messages and photographs stolen and shared for all to see. Working out if your accounts have been hacked is a time-consuming and potentially frustrating process. You’re better off taking some steps to mitigate the risks of getting hacked in the first place. Here’s what you can do to protect yourself.Use Multi-Factor AuthenticationArguably the most effective thing you can do to protect your online accounts is turning on multi-factor, or two-factor, authentication for as many of your accounts as possible. The method uses a secondary piece of information—often a code generated by an app or sent via SMS—alongside a password.

This secondary piece of information helps to prove it really is you trying to log in, as the codes are often accessed on the phone in your pocket. Even if you do have a password that’s easy to guess (we’ll get to that shortly), an attacker is unlikely to get access to an account with multi-factor authentication turned on unless they have your phone.

There’s a guide to all the accounts that support the method here, but in the first instance you should turn it on for all the accounts that hold personal information that could be abused. Like messaging apps such as WhatsApp, social media including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and your email accounts.

Not all forms of multi-factor authentication are equal though. Code-generating apps are considered more secure than getting codes via SMS, and beyond that, physical security keys provide an even more robust layer of protection.Get a Password ManagerLet’s talk about passwords. It’s 2021. You shouldn’t be using “password” or “12345” for any of your passwords—even if it’s a throwaway account.

All the passwords you use for your online accounts should be strong and unique. What this really means is they should be long, include a mixture of different character types, and not be used across multiple websites. Your Twitter password shouldn’t be the same as your online banking one; your home Wi-Fi network shouldn’t use the same credentials as your Amazon account.

The best way to do this is by using a password manager. Password managers create strong passwords for you and store them securely. If the fact that they can stop you getting hacked isn’t enough to make you consider using one, a password manager also means you never have to struggle to remember a forgotten password again.

From our testing of the best password managers our there, we recommend trying out LastPass or KeePass.Learn How to Spot a Phishing AttackQuickly clicking can be your worst enemy. When a new email or text message arrives, and it includes something that can be tapped or clicked, our instincts often lead us to do it straight away. Don’t.

Hackers have used the pandemic as cover to launch wave after wave of phishing attacks and dumb Google Drive scams.

Anyone can fall for these types of scams. The main thing to do is to think before you click. Scam messages try to trick people into behaving in a way they wouldn’t normally—with, say, pretend instant demands from a boss or messages that say an urgent response is required.

There’s no foolproof way to identify every type of phishing effort or scam—scammers are constantly upping their game—but being aware of the threat can help reduce its effectiveness. Be cautious, think before you click, and download files only from people and sources you know and trust.Update EverythingEvery piece of technology you use—from the Facebook app on your phone to the operating system that controls your smart lightbulb—is open to attack. Thankfully, companies are always finding new bugs and fixing them. That’s why it’s crucial you download and update the latest versions of the apps and software you’re using.

Start with your phone. Navigate to your device settings and find out what operating system you’re using, and update it if you’re not on the latest version (iOS 14 is the latest for iPhones; Android 11 is the latest from Google). For apps and games, Apple’s iOS 13 and above downloads updates automatically, although these settings can be customized. On Android, auto-updates can also be turned on by visiting the settings page in the Google Play Store.

Once you’ve updated your phone, you need to work out what devices to update next. Generally these should be done in order of potential impact. Any laptops and computers you own should be high up the list, and then work back through other connected devices in your life. Remember: Everything is vulnerable, including your internet-connected chastity belt.Encrypt EverythingProtecting your communications has never been easier. Over the last half-decade, companies handling our personal data—including the messages we send and the files we upload to the cloud —have realized that encryption can help them as well as their customers. Using encrypted services means that what you’re sending is better protected against surveillance and won’t be accessible if your device gets lost or stolen.

There are two main end-to-end encrypted messaging services, Signal and WhatsApp. Messages (including photos and videos) plus voice calls and video calls are encrypted by default within both apps. They both also let you use disappearing messages, which remove what you’ve sent after a set period of time. The practice can help keep your chats private, even from those that have access to your devices. Our advice is to use Signal where possible, as it collects less metadata than WhatsApp and isn’t owned by Facebook. But if you can’t get your friends to move to Signal, WhatsApp offers a lot more protection than apps that don’t use end-to-end encryption by default.

For your emails, encrypted provider ProtonMail can protect your messages, and there’s also the option to use burner email accounts for mailing lists and purchases where you don’t want to hand over your personal data.

Beyond your messages, encrypting the files on your devices can help reduce the chances of your data being compromised if you’re hacked or lose your devices. Both iPhone and iOS encrypt your hard drive by default. Just make sure you use a strong password or PIN for your devices. A little more effort is needed to encrypt the hard drive on your laptop or computer. Turn on Apple’s FileVault to encrypt your startup disk, and on Windows you can turn encryption on through the Settings menus or use BitLocker encryption.Wipe Your Digital FootprintThe past can come back to haunt you. The old online accounts you no longer use and the login details that belong to them can be weaponized against you if you don’t do anything about them. Hackers frequently use details from previous data breaches to access the accounts people currently use.

Reducing the amount of information that’s available about your online life can help cut your risk of being hacked. A very simple step is to regularly delete your Google search history, but you can also use privacy-first Google alternatives.

Beyond this, there’s a lot more you can do to reduce your digital footprint. Find the old accounts you no longer use and delete them. It’ll reduce the amount of spam you get and reduce the number of ways hackers can target you. Use Have I Been Pwned? to find your information in old data breaches, use a VPN to boost browsing privacy, and download Tor if you really want to boost your online anonymity.

Internet service providers (ISPs) connect your home to the internet, and they usually send you a modem and router (sometimes in a single device). The modem connects your home to the broader internet; the router hooks up to the modem, and you connect all your gadgets wired or wirelessly to the router to access that connectivity. ISPs often charge you a rental fee for this equipment, and their routers are usually basic in terms of performance and features. The good news is that ISPs are no longer allowed to force you to use their equipment or charge you to use your own hardware by law, though you may still have to return their stuff to avoid charges.

We’re largely looking at using your own router in this guide and using your ISP’s modem. By using your own, you can potentially save money in the long term, but you can also enjoy faster Wi-Fi, better coverage, easier configuration, and extra features like parental controls and guest Wi-Fi networks. We will run through your router options, but whatever system you decide to go with, check compatibility with your ISP before buying. You can also search your ISP’s forums to find posts where people discuss using different routers and modems. A little research before you shop can save you a big headache down the line.

Most manufacturers want you to believe you can’t replace your battery, but that’s not true. Doing so can add years of life to your device.

YOU MIGHT BE in the habit of replacing your smartphone every couple of years, but most phones can last a lot longer than that. Like your car, they might just need a new part every now and then, and the best repair you can do on your phone to make it last longer is a battery replacement. But most batteries aren’t user-replaceable. So how do you actually get one?

Unfortunately, user-replaceable batteries are becoming increasingly rare, and most smartphone manufacturers don’t go too far out of their way to let you know that you can get a battery replacement at all. In fact, when Apple briefly lowered the cost of iPhone battery replacements, it resulted in about 10 times as many people replacing their batteries as usual (and, coincidentally, far fewer new iPhones sold that year). However, even if your battery is locked inside your phone, you can get a new one and keep your phone lasting longer.
Some Things to Consider Before Replacing the Battery

Even though battery replacements are very useful, they can also be a hassle to get done. In fact it’s not unlike getting work done on your car: You might be able to do it yourself, but it’s probably easier to pay someone else to do it, and you should expect to be without your phone for a while as you wait for the repair to finish.

Many places offer same-day repairs, as long as the battery for your device is in stock. That is, for repair places with physical locations near you. If you have a local Apple store or a uBreakiFix location near you, they might have what you need. But in some cases you’ll need to mail in your phone to get a repair, which could leave you without it for days. And while you may be able to get a loaner phone from some places, it can still be a hassle. On the other hand, it’s a lot better for the environment, not to mention your wallet, if you replace the battery rather than buy a new phone.When You Should Replace the Battery

As a general rule, if you’ve had your phone for a couple years and it’s starting to show its age, that’s a pretty good time to look into a battery replacement. That’s right around the time you might be thinking about getting a new phone anyway–many carriers still offer upgrades or payment plans that renew every two years to entice you–but you can also check your battery’s health manually if you want to see if you need an upgrade sooner.

On iPhones, you can navigate to Settings > Battery > Battery Health to find a Maximum Capacity value that will show what percentage of your battery’s initial charge capacity is left. This isn’t how full your battery is right now but rather how much charge it can hold relative to how much it could hold when it was new. If this gets down to 80 percent (especially if it’s still under warranty), get a new battery.

As always, Android phones are a little more complicated; there are many different models and they don’t all work the same. Instead, you can use an app like AccuBattery to get detailed stats on the health of your battery. The app uses an estimate, not an official report, and it may take a few days to get a full picture of your battery’s health. But if it’s below 80 percent of its original capacity, it might be time to take a look at a replacement battery.Take Your iPhone Into an Apple Store

If you have an iPhone and you want a battery replacement, you’re probably in the best position. If you’re still under warranty or AppleCare+, you can get a free battery replacement on most phones from the last several years. If you’re outside of coverage, the fees range from $49 to $69, depending on which phone you have.

If you can bring your phone into an Apple store, they can often repair your phone the same day and have it back to you in a few hours. If the repair job is more complicated, the store may need to send it off to an Apple Repair Center, which can take up to 3 to 5 days to complete the repair. However, this is how long it would take to get a repair job if you mailed the phone in yourself anyway, so it makes sense to try an in-store repair first.Try Third-Party Repair Shops for Android Phones

For Android phones, there’s no single manufacturer that also handles all repairs, like there is with Apple, but you can still get same-day repairs done with third-party repair shops. The most prominent of these is uBreakiFix, which has locations in most US states. Some major manufacturers like Google and Samsung give uBreakiFix access to OEM parts, which means they can repair your phone with the same materials those companies would use if you send them in directly.

Prices on Android battery repairs can vary, but usually are around or below $100, but you might need to call in to get an estimate. In some places, the company can even send a rep out to you to repair your phone on-site, in addition to the usual options of either going into a store or mailing in your device.When All Else Fails, Do It Yourself

In some cases, it might not be feasible (or even possible) to bring your phone into a store or mail it in somewhere. If you really want to keep your existing phone, and you don’t mind getting your hands dirty, you can try replacing the battery yourself. Repair site iFixit has guides for replacing batteries on most major phones that will explain in detail what tools you need and how to take apart your phone, with pictures for every step.

You might need a specialized toolkit (which iFixit also sells) that has the proprietary screwheads and other tools that might be required for opening up your phone. Also keep in mind, while you can replace a part without voiding your warranty (and in fact those warranty-voiding stickers are illegal!), the manufacturer still might try to fight you on the warranty if you break anything while doing so. And potentially even if you don’t. If you’re comfortable with that–or if you’re already out of coverage anyway–then order a replacement battery for your phone online and give it a whirl.

How long a laptop lasts on its internal battery is one of the most important considerations for PC shoppers. Business travelers and students are often at the mercy of their computer’s remaining juice, since so many conference rooms, aircraft, and lecture halls are woefully short on accessible power outlets. Just a few years ago, it was necessary to buy and charge an external battery pack to get long battery life, or to insist on a machine with a removable, swappable battery. But today, even many thin ultraportables with sealed-shut chassis show impressive endurance away from an AC outlet.

These recent improvements in laptop battery life are thanks to CPUs and other components that are more power-efficient than ever. (It’s not just battery technology that deserves the credit.) That’s especially true of Intel’s newest Core processors, which power many of the longest-lasting models currently on our list. Some of the systems here use the chip maker’s previous 10th Generation CPUs, but 11th Generation chips are starting to take over in laptops released through 2021. Alternatives from Apple (the Apple M1) and Qualcomm’s Snapdragons are starting to make a showing, too.

A laptop that can last for more than eight hours without a trip to a power plug should be enough to get you through a day’s work, but that’s not good enough to make it to the upper echelons today. Each of the laptops and 2-in-1s we’ve selected lasted for more than 19 hours on our tests, which means that they can survive a full day of work (whether that’s at home or in an office) and still offer plenty of juice for your commute or for watching videos on the couch. (Maybe both.)

In addition to being a critical specification, battery life is one of the toughest to measure. If you’re watching movies all day long, you’ll get far more unplugged time than someone who’s editing images nonstop in Photoshop. We test battery life based on a very specific scenario: watching movies stored locally at 50% screen brightness and with airplane mode turned on. If you’re frequently performing more CPU-intensive or graphics-hammering tasks, you’ll want to shave an hour or two off of our results. 

Twitter is launching a feature that it hopes will help crack down on abuse and trolling, both of which have become huge issues for the platform.

Safety Mode will flag accounts using hateful remarks, or those bombarding people with uninvited comments, and block them for seven days.

The feature will work automatically once enabled, taking the burden off users to deal with unwelcome tweets.

It will initially be tested on a small group of users.

The feature can be turned on in settings, and the system will assess both the tweet’s content and the relationship between the tweet author and replier. Accounts that are followed by the user or frequently interacted with, will not be autoblocked.

Katy Minshall, head of Twitter UK Public Policy, said: “While we have made strides in giving people greater control over their safety experience on Twitter, there is always more to be done.

“We’re introducing Safety Mode; a feature that allows you to automatically reduce disruptive interactions on Twitter, which in turn improves the health of the public conversation.”

Like other social media platforms, Twitter relies on a combination of automated and human moderation.

While it has never formally said how many human moderators it uses, a 2020 report by New York business school NYU Stern suggested that it had about 1,500 to cope with the 199 million daily Twitter users worldwide.

A recent study on hate speech produced by Facts Against Hate on behalf of the Finnish government found that Twitter was “the worst of the tech giants” when it came to hate speech.

The answer, according to study author Dr Mari-Sanna Paukkeri, is to utilise artificial intelligence systems which have been trained by humans.

“There are so many different ways to say bad things, and it is rocket science to build tools that can spot these,” she said.

Simply highlighting certain words or phrases, a technique many social networks rely on, was not sufficient, she added.

Alongside dealing with abuse on the platform, Twitter has become more determined to crack down on misinformation. In August it partnered with Reuters and the Associated Press to debunk misleading information and stop its spread.

It has previously introduced Birdwatch, a community-moderation system, which allowed volunteers to label tweets they found to be inaccurate.

A major cryptocurrency exchange has mistakenly sent emails to 125,000 users, wrongly telling them their two-factor authentication settings had been changed.

Coinbase said the emails were “not the result of malicious behaviour”.

Two-factor authentication requires users to enter information, such as a texted code, in addition to a password.

And the alert caused alarm many among users, who feared their accounts had been hacked.

Under most circumstances, only someone with access to the account could change two-factor authentication settings.

“I got the reply and panicked someone accessed my account or made withdrawals,” one user tweeted.

‘Building trust’
The company said the error had been due to an issue with its notification system.

Coinbase apologised on social media, saying it was focused on building trust and “that issues like this can hurt that trust”.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
View original tweet on Twitter
And a post from a moderator support account on Reddit suggested the company was “crediting a small number of users” affected with $100 (£73) worth of Bitcoin.

Coinbase has experienced rapid recent growth, telling CNBC, in June, its more than 43 million registered users at the end of 2020 had grown to 68 million.