I’m a security editor and these are my 3 security New Years resolutions

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A new year means a whole new opportunity for better security

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(Image credit: Song about Summer/Shutterstock)

Now the year has nearly come to an end, and we're looking forward to a new one, plenty of us are making resolutions. Among the many I'm considering are a few security resolutions to round out the list — because what better time to make a plan to improve your online security? After all, we all know I'm not going to organize the coat closet, bake bread or do those sit-ups. Best to focus on something more realistic.

If you're wondering what a security editor is languishing on when it comes to their own security settings, this is the answer: Mostly organizational items, and one outsourced task that requires a bit of research. What are yours? Let me know in the comments so I can feel better about my inbox and my old MySpace account that probably still exists (somewhere).

1. Kill old accounts

Android apps

(Image credit: Lukmanazis/Shutterstock)

I've written before about this bad habit — and exactly why keeping (or forgetting) old accounts is a security risk. But tracking them all down and finding a way to unsubscribe has turned into a bigger project than I planned on. So I've broken it down into several steps with, ideally, one step to be completed in a month's time.

First, I'm going to check my email inbox for accounts or logins, including things I have newsletters for, anything that has a keyword like 'log in,' 'welcome,' or 'verify.' I'll check old orders and purchases as well.

I don't often link logins between accounts but I'll double-check to make sure nothing is linked to my account, as well as for any passwords that may have been saved in a browser. Then I'm going to use a few online tools like JustDelete.me or SayMine to do some searches for whatever's left.

Everything I find I'll put into a spreadsheet so I can keep track of what accounts I track down, what email or information I used to log in, when I 'killed' the account and how difficult it was.

2. Clear out old email

someone trying to open a spam email

(Image credit: TippaPatt / Shutterstock)

Likewise, this was a project I had the best of intentions for, but wound up becoming a massive undertaking that felt like an unwinnable slog. I tried to unsubscribe manually from a lot of things, but they were still appearing in my inbox. With one Gmail account clocking in at well over 100K emails, I need a new tactic (or five).

Again, I plan on breaking it down into several steps — not to run concurrently with the goals above — but also with a deadline of a month each. First, I'll search for files over 10MB, then over 5MB (and over a year old). Then I can start bulk deleting by file type: promotion or social or newsletter. I can even search with multiple terms, i.e. social and more than a year old.

After that, I'm going to start to filter out all the newsletters and promos I never have time to look at (sorry Pottery Barn) by clicking on the three dots and then selecting 'Filter messages like these.' I can search and select all and delete. Google One has a storage manager as well that I can use for my Gmail to show what's taking up the most space. Lastly, I'll empty the Trash and Spam folders and automate filters for specific senders as they appear in my inbox so they can be automatically deleted, or filed.

Start deleting myself from the internet

A concept image of a man inputting his login information into a laptop

(Image credit: Getty Images)

I've been working in service journalism for over twenty years, so at this point, there's honestly no telling what's available about me on the internet. But I do know that it is time to start scrubbing it. Which means it's time to start taking steps to get my data off people finder sites. This is a goal I do not yet have as planned out, and will get to once I finish the first two resolutions, so my plan is a little less thorough.

Currently, my list is as follows: Use Google's 'Results About You' tool, and investigate DeleteMe, Optery and Incogni as potential services. The reality here is that taking the hours to fill out forms, and repeatedly following up, is likely going to be more time that I actually have for this project. So I'm going to turn it over to the professionals. I'm just not sure if I'd like to use one or multiple for the task. I'd like to see how much work I'm handing them first, and what the costs look like. I may want them to cover other family members, and I may want to switch over my identity theft protection while I'm at it. Either way, it's a necessary resolution that I aim to accomplish by the time I write this list next year.

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Amber Bouman
Amber Bouman
Senior Editor Security

Amber Bouman is the senior security editor at Tom's Guide where she writes about antivirus software, home security, identity theft and more. She has long had an interest in personal security, both online and off, and also has an appreciation for martial arts and edged weapons. With over two decades of experience working in tech journalism, Amber has written for a number of publications including PC World, Maximum PC, Tech Hive, and Engadget covering everything from smartphones to smart breast pumps. 

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