{"id":6680,"date":"2023-05-30T12:02:31","date_gmt":"2023-05-30T09:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.eset.ee\/?p=6680"},"modified":"2023-05-31T12:03:35","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T09:03:35","slug":"turning-on-stealth-mode-5-simple-strategies-for-staying-under-the-radar-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.eset.ee\/et\/en\/2023\/05\/30\/turning-on-stealth-mode-5-simple-strategies-for-staying-under-the-radar-online\/","title":{"rendered":"Turning on stealth mode: 5 simple strategies for staying under the radar online"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We\u2019ve all lost count of how many times we\u2019ve entered our email address and phone number to sign up for an online service, access a website or an app, read the news or log into any of the social media accounts most of us have. Put bluntly, our contact information is all over the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, being safe and private online can be hard work and time-consuming, mainly if we have to think about managing settings and what information we want to share every single time we sign up for a new service<\/a> or make an online purchase. It becomes overwhelming and could definitely be made more efficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can we make it easier? Just like taking Sunday evening to prep some meals for the week, we can spend some time today to protect our online privacy for the months ahead!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disposable and temporary: the art of online camouflage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Temporary email address and a secondary inbox<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As most websites require an email address to register, most of us will simply enter our primary email address. Why would we need more than one inbox anyway? The reality, however, suggests otherwise. When we register a new account or even just input our email to access restricted content, we are most often also agreeing to the transfer of our contact information from a certain service to another for marketing purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it doesn\u2019t have to be that way. What to do instead?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strategy 1:<\/strong> Use a disposable email address \u2013 for things you don\u2019t really care that much about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A number of disposable email services let you use a temporary email that self-destructs after a set period of time. This comes in particularly handy for one-time use, for example when you are asked to submit an email address to access restricted content, but don\u2019t necessarily want to run the risk of being bombarded by marketing communications and spam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A caveat applies, however, and we can\u2019t stress this enough: it\u2019s not a good idea to use these services for any communications that may involve truly sensitive data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strategy 2:<\/strong> Create a secondary email address for logins and important newsletters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For all government, banking and other key contacts, use an end-to-end encrypted email service as ProtonMail<\/a>. Don\u2019t use your primary email address for anything other than staying in touch with your friends and family. This will keep your inbox organized, free of spam and protected from data leaks in case a service you\u2019re registered with suffers a data breach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alternatively, you can also use a feature such as Apple\u2019s Hide My Email<\/a> to sign up for a service without giving away your real email. Apple creates a unique address that masks your real address and provides it to the service you\u2019re signing up to. All emails will then be forwarded automatically from the masked account to yours. While Android does not yet offer a similar feature, there are a few alternatives, such as Firefox Relay<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The burner phone number<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Along with email addresses, your phone number is a must-have to register and log into a number of websites, to receive timed passwords that confirm your identity or even for online retailers to hand over your contact details to delivery services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All in all, your phone number is everywhere, so no wonder most of us already receive random texts and WhatsApp scam<\/a> attempts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strategy 3:<\/strong> Get a cheap prepaid SIM card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usually, this is a cheap card that you only have to top up with a few bucks every few months to keep it on and, in most countries, you are not required to show an ID to use it. The purpose is to use this phone number for all your online needs: You can link it to social media accounts, use it for parcel tracking numbers, share with potential dates you meet online and use it for general anonymity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, your real primary number should only be shared with family, friends and government or financial institutions. Because you use the burner number for your online purposes, if you get a call, you can immediately assume it is a scam and, most likely, some website you were registered at suffered a data breach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Single-use bank cards<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Buying online can be really convenient, no doubt! We just need to enter the website, choose what we want and usually we already have our banking card details stored from a previous purchase. All good. Unless there\u2019s a data breach affecting the details saved on that website that compromises our card details or we fall victim to a nasty social engineering scam<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strategy 4:<\/strong> Go for single-use, virtual cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many banks, mainly those based on mobile applications, offer virtual cards instead, or as an additional option on top of the physical card. And most of these banks will also offer disposable single-use cards that are connected to your real card. Once you make a purchase with a single-use card<\/a>, the bank system will detect the movement, destroy those card details and automatically generate new ones ready for the next purchase. Because this is a randomized card, hackers won\u2019t be able to track your real information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in case you\u2019re wondering about refunds, the sellers can still return the money through the same single-purchase card details to your account.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Two-factor authentication and one-time codes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Most online services these days allow \u2013 and recommend \u2013 the use of two-factor authentication<\/a> (2FA). That is, apart from entering your password, you can also be required to perform an extra authentication step. This way, if someone steals your password, they still won\u2019t be able to log in without the 2FA code in their hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strategy 5:<\/strong> Use app-generated 2FA passcodes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most often, 2FA involves sending an SMS message to your phone number (hopefully your burner phone) with a one-time passcode (OTP). You only need to type it in where requested to prove your identity. Another \u2013 and better \u2013 way relies on using authentication apps such as Microsoft Authenticator. Under their privacy settings, most websites offer the possibility to generate a QR or alphanumeric code that can be input on the authenticator app; in turn, the app will generate a temporary code that works just like an OTP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This second method is something you might want to get used to \u2013 and not just because Twitter stopped supporting SMS-borne 2FA for non-paying users<\/a> recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Let\u2019s recap!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n