Five practical steps to protect your money, your identity, and your peace of mind — no tech expertise required.
Rotary Club of Bellingham • Feb 2026Everything on this page is something you can do yourself, today. Start with the one that feels most important to you, then come back for the rest. Total time for all five: about 2 hours.
Your personal information is already out there from data breaches. A credit freeze prevents anyone from opening new credit cards, loans, or lines of credit in your name — even if they have your Social Security number. It's free, it doesn't affect your credit score, and you can temporarily lift it whenever you need to apply for credit yourself.
Each bureau maintains a separate file. Freezing one but not the others still leaves you exposed. The good news: each one takes about 10 minutes online.
A credit freeze does NOT affect your credit score or your existing accounts. Your current credit cards and loans continue to work normally. You only need to temporarily lift the freeze when applying for something new (a mortgage, car loan, new credit card, etc.).
A credit freeze (also called a security freeze) is free by federal law and is the most secure option. A credit lock is a similar service offered by the bureaus, sometimes with paid premium features, that provides app-based instant control. Either works — the freeze is always free.
Software updates fix security holes that hackers exploit. An unpatched phone or computer is like leaving your front door unlocked. Most updates happen quietly in the background — you just need to make sure the setting is turned on.
If your device is too old to receive updates, it needs to be replaced. Windows 10 PCs lose security support in October 2025. Intel-based Macs will stop receiving security updates by 2028, and older models already have. Old iPhones and Android phones that can't update are security risks. An $800 replacement is far cheaper than dealing with identity theft.
Select your device below for step-by-step instructions.
Updates usually install overnight when your Mac is plugged in and connected to Wi-Fi. Leave it plugged in at night for the smoothest experience.
Microsoft releases major security patches on the second Tuesday of every month ("Patch Tuesday"). Keep your computer plugged in and connected to the internet so it can grab these automatically.
Automatic updates install overnight while your device is charging and connected to Wi-Fi. Plug your phone in at night and it takes care of itself.
Menu names vary slightly between Samsung, Google Pixel, and other brands, but the general path is always Settings > System or About phone > System/Software Update.
Two-factor authentication (2FA) means that even if someone steals your password, they still can't get into your account without the second factor — usually your phone. It combines something you know (your password) with something you have (your phone or fingerprint).
Enable 2FA on your most important accounts first, in this order:
The exact steps vary by service, but the general process is the same:
Look for "Security Settings" or "Login Preferences" in your financial accounts. Most banks now strongly encourage 2FA and make it easy to enable. If you get a 2FA request you didn't initiate, do NOT approve it — someone may be trying to access your account.
Visit HaveIBeenPwned.com and enter your email address. This free service tells you if your email was part of a known data breach. If it was, change that password immediately and enable 2FA.
How many of you have a password book? Is it in a safe, or is it sitting right next to your computer? Imagine going on a trip and someone breaks into your home — they now have your computer AND your password book.
A password manager stores all your passwords behind one strong master password, protected by two-factor authentication. It also generates unique, strong passwords for every site — so when one company gets hacked (and they will), your other accounts stay safe.
Apple Passwords (built into iPhones and Macs) and Google Password Manager (built into Chrome and Android) are also good options if you're already in those ecosystems. The most important thing is to use something rather than reusing the same password everywhere or keeping a paper list.
The companies you do business with WILL be hacked. Using the same password on multiple sites means one breach compromises all your accounts. Unique passwords for every site is the single most effective thing you can do for password security.
If your computer gets hit by ransomware, crashes, or is stolen, a backup means you don't lose your photos, documents, and files. Automatic backups happen silently in the background — you set it up once and forget about it.
An external USB drive with at least double your computer's storage. A 1TB or 2TB external drive costs $50-80 at any electronics store and connects with a single cable. That's it.
Time Machine creates hourly backups that roll into daily and weekly snapshots of your entire Mac.
Leave the drive connected whenever you're at your desk. Time Machine backs up automatically every hour. If you disconnect the drive, it simply resumes when you reconnect it. You can show Time Machine in the menu bar through Control Center for quick status checks.
File History automatically backs up your Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos, and Desktop folders to an external drive.
To include extra folders beyond the defaults, right-click the folder in File Explorer, select Show more options > Include in library. Keep the drive connected for continuous protection — File History caches changes if the drive is temporarily disconnected.