Hey everyone, I really need some advice on a serious situation. I'm 24 and living with my dad, who's in his 50s. We're both out of work, and recently I'm getting this gut feeling that he might be trying to access my personal accounts or keep an eye on me digitally. We haven't lived together in a long time, but he has a history of being very tech-savvy and even obsessive about our devices when we were younger.
Lately, he mentioned that he hacked his ex-girlfriend's accounts and I've overheard him looking up videos on how to clone WhatsApp accounts. I'm scared because while I know my dad quite well, there are times when I really don't. I'm using strong passwords and two-factor authentication on my accounts, but I feel like I'm not doing enough to protect myself.
What else can I do to keep my accounts safe? Are there specific apps or settings I should check? And what precautions should I take in this kind of situation? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!
3 Answers
You're on the right path with strong passwords and 2FA. To further protect yourself, consider running a full antivirus scan on your computer with built-in tools or something like Malwarebytes. This way, you can catch any potential malware that might be tracking your passwords. If you primarily use your phone, you're likely safe. Don't fall for things like 'hacked routers' either; they don’t really grant unauthorized access to your accounts unless there’s malware involved.
This all hinges on how tech-savvy your dad really is. If he’s managing the home network, he could potentially see your traffic if he knows what he’s doing. If that's the case, don’t use his network. Reinstall your OS if you're really worried; that way, you'd wipe any potential backdoor access he's set up. Also, make sure you have different passwords for every account. Using your mobile data instead of your home Wi-Fi could be safer because it limits his access.
If he manages the network, wouldn't he still have access to some of the data? I thought encryption mostly keeps the content hidden.
It might be a good idea to upgrade your 2FA to something like a security token, like the Google Titan or Yubikey. These require a physical key to log into your accounts, making it a lot harder for anyone to gain access without it. Make sure to check for any unknown connected devices to your accounts and possibly email forwarding settings. Just log into your webmail directly to do that.
But could a router still track her activity if it has custom firmware? I've heard terms like 'packet sniffing' being thrown around.