You Could Lose It All: How to Keep Your Portfolio Safe in a World of Hacks, Corporate Changes, Geopolitical Shifts and More.

This spring, a beautiful twenty-something aspiring singer I know from my hometown discovered that her social media accounts were hacked. As a millennial, social media was her main way to share her songs and videos, interact with fans, and build invaluable connections in the industry.

Eventually, she recovered her accounts. But her experience has motivated me to refresh my understanding of how to stay safe online – and what to do to preserve my portfolio in case the worst happens.

Whether you are a rising musical star, a content creator, a photographer or a small business owner, your digital presence is likely the lifeblood of your business or personal brand. But the threats have never been greater than today.

From hackers to big tech that is ever-evolving in its standards to geopolitical shifts that can turn the digital world dark, a well-developed web presence can disappear in a moment. But thankfully, there are steps we can take to make such a scenario less likely – or to help us be resilient if it does happen.

Staying Safe from Hackers

If social media is at the core of your professional life, you should be using duo authentication. This means that instead of merely entering a password, you’ll be asked to authenticate through a text, push or call to your phone, or some other way of proving your identity. The combination makes it a lot less likely that a nefarious actor can gain access.

Five years ago at my workplace, emails were constantly being sent that purported to be from bosses or colleagues but were actually spam or worse. Two-factor authentication has substantially cut down on these incidents.

Using third party apps to manage or enhance your social media presence or support your blog or website? Check their privacy and security policy and make sure they’re reputable. Third party apps can make it easier for your presence to be compromised. Or in some cases, these apps can run afoul of network standards and cause your account or site to be shut down.

And don’t forget the basics. Choose good passwords. Consider a reputable password management tool. Don’t click on phishing emails or questionable links in comments or other engagements.

What's Online Today Could Be Gone Tomorrow

Two years ago, the business college where I work suddenly changed its name, the result of a severed relationship with a longtime donor. All of a sudden, alumni magazines, reports and articles with the old name were a lot less valuable to the college. Two years before, my workplace migrated to a new blog. Much of the content I wrote in earlier days didn’t carry over.

Remember, if you work for someone else, there’s no guarantee that content, photos, artistic work or other creative projects you’ve produced will still exist in the future.

Changes in corporate policy, mergers, closures and more could result in the work you’ve done no longer being displayed, digitally or otherwise.

If you are self-employed, you are a bit more protected. But there’s still risk.

Big tech is constantly changing. One day, your content may be blocked or banned as standards constantly shift. Or a platform might be gone for good one day. And since tech platforms are private (in most cases) your legal rights may be limited.

And then let’s take a global view. Wars and geopolitical shifts are changing the digital landscape. Take for instance the American University of Afghanistan. When Kabul fell to the Taliban in 2021, the university’s YouTube presence went dark within days.

Is there a way to ensure your content will always be available?

Making Sure Your Portfolio Won't Die

Considering the digital world largely didn’t exist four decades ago, ALWAYS would be a tough standard.

But for the foreseeable future, the best way to ensure your content will be accessible and available is by uploading it to the Wayback Archive.

Created in 1996, the nonprofit is committed to ensuring that the history of the internet will always exist by archiving outdated websites, videos, music and content (such a record is necessary for both historical and legal purposes). Set up an account for free to add your work to the collection.

It will then be publicly accessible in case your main web presence is lost or compromised. Be sure to select the desired permissions to make sure your uploads on Wayback are protected from reproduction as desired.

And don’t forget the old school solution. Print everything.

When going on job interviews or making connections, consider giving a print portfolio. If you have audio or video files, put them on a disc (no, discs aren’t dead, since they can easily be connected to many computer devices).

Cloud computing has changed the world, but let’s not give up on physical storage. For the sake of history – our personal history and society’s history – there’s a need to make sure the originals will always remain.

And every year or so, do a personal audit if you’re a creative professional. Think of some likely scenarios. Hacking. A computer malfunction. Your company closes. What would happen? Best to be in a situation in which the worst-case scenario would mean you’d lose little – if anything.?