True Security Requires a Holistic Approach

17-10-2022, In the eyes of hackers, scammers, and thieves, your online privacy and identity look like a giant jigsaw puzzle. One that they don’t need every piece to solve. They only need a few bits to do their dirty work, which means protecting every piece you put out there—a sort of holistic view on your personal security. One that protects you, not just your devices. 

Here’s what’s at stake: we create and share loads of personal information simply by going about our day online, where each bit of information makes up a piece of that giant jigsaw puzzle. Some pieces directly identify us, like our tax returns, bank account information, or driver’s licenses. Other pieces of information indirectly identify us, like the IP addresses assigned to our computers, tablets, and phones—or device ID numbers, location information, and browsing history. And bad actors only need a few key pieces to do you harm, such as committing identity crime in your name or selling your personal information on sketchy websites or the dark web. 

While people show great concern about their personal information, who has it and what’s done with it, our research shows that 70% of people feel like they have little or no control over the data that’s collected about them. However, you have plenty of ways that you can indeed take control—ways that can prevent, detect, and correct attacks on your privacy and identity. That’s where holistic protection comes in. 

What do we mean by holistic protection? 

You can think of holistic protection as layers of shields that protect you and the devices you use. It gives you three layers in all—a Prevention Layer, Detection Layer, and a Correction Layer. 

A holistic and comprehensive security solution like McAfee+ combines those three layers in a way that protects your personal information and keep your identity private, showing you how it does it along the way, so you can see exactly how safe you are. Let’s take a quick look of some of the protections you’ll find in each layer … 

In the Prevention Layer, you’ll see:  

• A virtual private network (VPN), allowing you to connect securely on a public Wi-Fi network by encrypting, or scrambling, your data while in transit so no one else sees it. It’ll also make your activity far more private, making it harder for advertisers and data collectors to track. 
• Safe browsing that warns you if a website is risky before you enter your information and can steer you clear of risky links, while a download scanner can prevent downloads of malware or malicious email attachments. 
• An integrated password manager that can create and store strong and unique passwords for each of your accounts. This way if one of your accounts is hacked, your other accounts won’t be at risk. 
• A security freeze service that can prevent hackers and thieves from opening of new credit, bank, and utility accounts in your name.​ 
• Real-time antivirus that protects your data and devices. 

In the Detection Layer, you have … 

• Identity monitoring that keeps tabs on everything from email addresses to IDs and phone numbers for signs of breaches so you can take action to secure your accounts before they’re used for identity theft. 
• McAfee’s industry-first Protection Score that monitors the health of your online protection and shows you ways you can improve your security and stay safe online. 

In the Correction Layer, several other protections have your back … 

• Identity theft protection & restoration that aids with many of the costs associated with restoring one’s identity through up to $1 million in coverage—along with the services of a licensed recovery pro to help restore your identity.​ 
• Personal data cleanup that scans some of the riskiest data broker sites and shows you which ones are selling your personal info so that you can remove it on your own or with our help, depending on your plan. 

These are just a few examples of the protections in each layer. And you’ll find our most comprehensive holistic protection in McAfee+ Ultimate, covering your privacy, identity, and devices. 

A Unified Solution for your Privacy, Identity, and Devices 

While your online privacy and identity may look a jigsaw puzzle, protecting it shouldn’t be as complicated. With a holistic security solution for your personal protection, you can minimize your exposure with layers of security that do much of the work for you. 

Antivirus on your PC is not enough. It has not been enough for many decades now. And this becomes more evident as we continue to spend more time online, with the average person spending 6 hours and 54 minutes online each day, leaving clouds of personal information in their wake. 

While standalone apps like a password manager, a VPN app, and an identity solution from different vendors can be piecemealed together with your device security, these are difficult to keep track of and burdensome to maintain. 

We have combined the important tools you need into a seamless and comprehensive experience because good security software is something that you use daily to feel safer online. This is why we are working on your behalf to redefine security, so you can enjoy your connected life with confidence.