When you hear the term “personal hygiene,” chances are you think of basic routines such as staying clean, wearing deodorant and brushing your teeth. In today’s tech-driven world, another aspect of personal hygiene deserves more attention: cyber hygiene.

Cyber hygiene refers to the routine actions and practices to stay safe in our digital world. As more of our lives move online, from banking accounts to health records to social interactions, the importance of ensuring clean, secure digital habits has never been greater.

No matter how familiar we are with cyber hygiene, we can take specific initiatives to protect ourselves. Here are three ways individuals of any experience level can work to improve their cyber hygiene habits:

The Tip for Total Beginners (And That’s Okay!)

We understand that it’s easy to reuse certain passwords to actually remember them. In fact, a Forbes study stated that 78% of Americans reuse the same password across multiple platforms. However, reusing the same password across a variety of accounts is like using the same key for one's house, car and office. The more exposure we grant that password, the greater the likelihood for a compromise.

Unit 42 recommends the use of a password manager, which securely generates, stores and autofills passwords to use across all of one’s online accounts. Password managers defend against threats effectively and only require the user to remember one master password.

For choosing passwords in general, the more random, the better. Research shows that random agglomerations of mixed-case letters, numbers and symbols form the strongest passwords. Keep passwords long – over 16 characters is recommended – and keep them unrelated to any personal data including names, birthdays or social security information.

To stay extra secure, we recommend employing multi-factor authentication (you may see it referred to across the web as MFA) when possible. It can easily double your protection and takes little effort to set up.

The Tip For People In the Know

For those already working towards maintaining strong cybersecurity hygiene, it’s critical to proactively close any remaining security gaps. This can be done through protecting against vulnerabilities in your personal devices and software.

Individuals may not think of this in terms of patch management, but it’s useful to apply a similar framework to that used by organizations. Patching refers to the activity of identifying and applying software updates designed to fix known security vulnerabilities in systems and applications. Patching doesn’t have to be overly technical; many effective steps are accessible to individual users.

Best practices for personal patch management include:

• Regularly updating operating systems and applications
• Removing unused browser extensions and plugins
• Securing home networks, routers and IoT devices
• Uninstalling unsupported or end-of-life software
• Being aware of services or devices that might be accessible from the internet and taking action to secure them

Beyond patch management, other security measures can be taken such as:

• Connecting to a VPN when using public Wi-Fi
• Enabling multi-factor authentication whenever possible
• Controlling access permissions on services or devices
• Being mindful of what data is shared with online platforms and AI tools

It’s important to continuously monitor systems you commonly use. Ask yourself: When was the last time I completed an audit of all of the installed applications on my home computer? Or have I ever even checked if my printer’s drivers are up to date? These checks that we tend to forget about are neither complicated nor costly, and even a few minutes of attention each month can dramatically strengthen your overall cyber hygiene.

The Tip For Cybersecurity Professionals

While advanced tools and powerful frameworks play a critical role in defending against threats, their effectiveness is ultimately constrained by human behavior. The weakest link in any cybersecurity strategy is often not the system, but the human using it. People already well-versed in practicing strong cyber hygiene are already in a position to lead by example to cultivate a culture of security awareness.

Some ways to do this include:

• Sharing helpful reminders, valuable advice and real-world experiences through social media
• Educating friends and family on the benefits of maintaining secure cyber hygiene
• Creating a workplace culture where people feel comfortable reporting suspicious activities or mistakes without fear of punishment

Cyber hygiene is an ever-evolving process that requires continuous growth and improvement. By staying informed about the latest threats and sharing that knowledge, we can make a significant impact in protecting both ourselves and those around us. Just like brushing our teeth, cyber hygiene is something that we should do regularly – because a secure digital life is a healthier digital life.

To dive deeper into strengthening the human side of defense, explore the 2025 Unit 42 Global Incident Response Report: Social Engineering Edition. Check out the “Recommendations for Defenders” section for actionable insights.