It’s that time of year again: spring cleaning. But spring cleaning isn’t just about tidying your home; it’s about decluttering your digital history.

By routinely cleaning your digital life, your device and information can stay safe and secure year-round. It can also help improve the speed and performance of your devices and services, and reduce the risk of a criminal accessing information you’ve forgotten about.

To start, here is a checklist for refreshing, renewing, and reinvigorating your cyber life: 

  • Review your online accounts.
    • Delete any accounts you no longer use. 
    • Remove information that is no longer needed from your accounts, such as saved credit cards or old documents in cloud storage. 
    • Delete and unsubscribe from unwanted email subscriptions, newsletters, and mailing lists that you no longer read. 
  • Update your devices.
    • Update the apps and operating system on all internet-connected devices, including PCs, smartphones, tablets, home wi-fi routers, smart TVs, and more, to reduce the risk of malware and infections.
    • Delete unused apps.
  • Tune up web browsers.
    • Check your browser settings
    • Clear out old data, such as stored passwords and old autofill information, and ensure your browser is not set to store passwords.
    • Delete unused browsers.
  • Purge old digital files.
    • Clean out your old email, files, and downloads. Always empty the trash when you’re done.
      • Keep UC retention requirements in mind when purging work files!
      • Contact your IT department for assistance disposing of sensitive information.
  • Lock down your login.
    • Use a password, passcode, fingerprint, or facial recognition to log into all of your devices. 
    • Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA) for services like email, banking, and social media.
  • Use strong passwords
    • Take an inventory of your passwords. 
    • Use a unique password for each account and change your password for sensitive systems regularly. 
    • Consider using a password manager to store and protect your passwords.
  • Review and refresh your online presence.
    • Review and update your privacy and security settings on social media sites.
    • Delete old photos and posts that you no longer want to share.
    • Review friends on social networks and accounts you follow.
    • Actively manage your location services, Bluetooth, microphone, and camera to ensure apps use them appropriately.
  • Backup your files.
    • Copy important data and files to a secure cloud site, another computer, or an external hard drive where it can be safely stored. 
    • Password-protect backup drives and be sure you can restore the files from your backup.
  • Dispose of electronic devices securely.
    • Any device that has the ability to store information can retain that data even after you have deleted it, including phones, wearables, networking equipment, copiers, printers, and fax machines. 
    • Thoroughly wipe all electronic devices or have them shredded by a trusted vendor before disposal.

Follow our social media @UCSBInfoSec on Instagram, X, Meta, and LinkedIn for more tips and tricks to keep you and your digital life safe.