With the increase in internet usage, cybercrimes are on the rise. Here's a chart from Statista on the global cost of cybercrime.

With such staggering statistics, knowing how to protect yourself on the internet is really important.

One thing you can do today to enhance your online security is to use different email addresses for different purposes.

Why?

Your email address is often the gateway to your personal and financial information. When you sign up for a service or a website, the provider stores your email and password in a database. Unfortunately, these databases are not always secure. If a website gets hacked, your email and password can end up in the hands of cybercriminals.

By assigning different emails (and hopefully different passwords, please!) for different services, you can minimize the damage, if one of your accounts is compromised. For instance:

• Newsletters and Subscriptions: You can use one email address specifically to sign up for newsletters and online subscriptions. This way, if your email gets flooded with spam, it won't clutter your primary inbox.
• Social Media: You can use a separate email for your social media accounts. This keeps your personal communication separate and ensures that your other accounts remain safe if your social media account is compromised.
• Banking and Financial Services: You should also consider having a unique email address for just your banking and financial accounts. This adds an extra layer of security to your most sensitive information.

Feeling overwhelmed?

If you find managing multiple email accounts cumbersome, you can also create email aliases. An email alias is a different email address that forwards to your primary inbox. This way, you can keep your online activities separate without needing to manage several email accounts.

Whichever option you choose, start by making this small change today—it's an easy way to boost your online security and protect your personal information.

Stay safe out there!