Six useful tips from celebrities to secure your digital devices

It can be tricky to know exactly which security advice to follow when it comes to tech. There are lots of different services to store your photos and videos, and celebrities are especially cautious about cybersecurity after hundreds of leaked photos emerged following a hacking campaign targeting celebrity iCloud accounts in 2014. Here is some cybersecurity advice from well-known names.

Regularly change your mobile phone
If you keep changing your phone then it’s much more difficult for someone to intercept your calls. Paris Hilton is one celebrity who knows just how important it is to regularly change your phone. BuzzFeed published a chronicle of the various BlackBerry, Motorola and Apple devices she’s been through over the years. That’s good cybersecurity, but only if she also changed her SIM card as well.


(Image: AFP)



Consider using a burner phone
Dealing with sensitive content that you want to keep secure? Try using a cheap, low-cost phone that you get rid of once you’ve done your business. George and Amal Clooney stocked up on burner phones for their wedding in Venice. The pair gave out the devices to their wedding guests to stop photos escaping ahead of time and also to make sure that everyone’s devices were secure.


(Image: AFP)

Make sure you know where your old devices are
Bought a new laptop? Don’t just throw away the old one. It’s easy for hackers to find an old hard drive and figure out what was on there. Lindsay Lohan lost a laptop in China in 2014 and immediately took to Twitter to offer a reward for anyone who returned it to her. The American actress knew that the laptop contained information that was valuable to other people, including her intimate photos and correspondence.

Keep security in mind when you buy your next phone
It’s not just screen size and battery life that’s important when you buy your new phone — you should also investigate how secure it is. Leonardo DiCaprio attended the launch of the Solarin secure phone in May. The company says that its device offers militarygrade security and clearly, DiCaprio is a fan. Is Solarin the phone for you? Well, it’s not yet clear exactly how secure the device is.



Use private servers to store important files
If you really care about cloud storage and the security of online services, build your own private-only storage solution that’s just used by people you approve. No, it’s not just Hillary Clinton who uses this technique, actor Tom Hardy does too. He told The Evening Standard that his family use private servers to store photos and emails instead of public services like iCloud. That’s because, as a celebrity, people regularly try to hack him.

Throw a blanket over your head when entering your password
Yes, it may sound extreme, but if you really want that nobody is looking over your shoulder, make sure that your keyboard is covered when you enter your password. Edward Snowden showcased his blanket technique in filmmaker Laura Poitras’ documentary Citizenfour. While he was staying in a Hong Kong hotel room, Snowden used a blanket to cover his laptop every time he entered a password. This rather extreme security tactic is used so that any tiny cameras in the room can’t be used to spy on someone’s screen.


(Image: Reuters)