In the digital world, one of the greatest fears is being hacked. Having your identity or money stolen by someone you have never seen or come in contact with.
Even with encryption, your files are only safe as long as you alone hold the keys. This is impossible if you plan to use the internet. Every time you visit a website a digital signature of you is growing as companies follow your browsing habits and learn how to sell ads to you better.
Almost every cyberattack is not because some hacker has an algorithm that cracks into your bank's system. Most attacks happen because the hacker was given enough information to piece together what kind of security the bank has and then using something called Social engineering to get even more until they have enough to guess the rest.
For example, if someone wanted to hack your Facebook they would first need to know that you have a Facebook, then they need to find a way to trick you into giving them your username and password. So they make a Facebook account and call it “FaceBook Support” then they send you a message saying that they think someone tried to hack into your account and they need your account information to verify that you are the real owner of that Facebook account. Suppose you believed this and send your username and account password to the fake Facebook support account and just like that, they now have everything they need to be able to log in to your Facebook and start posting and reading your personal data.
This hacker didn’t use any of those cool hacking tools that you watch on TV instead, they used social engineering to trick you into giving away the “keys” to your Facebook account.
Here are 6 ways to avoid being hacked.
Now, let’s see some ways to protect yourself against these tricks and attacks.
1. DO NOT open links from Unknown Sources!
One way you can get malware on your computer is by accidentally downloading software that someone sends you. You should always verify that whoever is sending you something to download is a trusted source.
2. Inform your employees
At a company, there are so many people who have small bits of access that a Bad actor can contact one of them and trick them into giving away the information. As an employer, you should have regular meetings on informing your employees on how to always be on the lookout for these social engineers trying to steal data. It’s better for you to call and confirm with your manager that he had set an opponent for someone to be in the server room then finding out later that you let a hacker in and left him to steal everything. Better be safe than sorry.
3. Use Strong Passwords!
As I said before, most hacks happen because someone knows just enough information about you to guess the rest. If you use the same password or password that is easy to guess, then someone can guess and get lucky with your account. if you use the same password for everything then you only need that password to slip out once and someone can use it for other accounts. A good way for strong passwords is to make a phrase or adding multiple words and numbers together. These are only better in terms of having a password that you can still remember that someone can’t guess, a hacker with certain software will still be able to guess this password with an algorithm. So to be even safer you can use a random password generator and lock those passwords behind a master password.
4. Enable two-factor authentication
If you don’t know what two-factor authentication (2FA) is its basically a rule that makes you input two-point of evidence to prove who you are. A good rule with authentication is a thing that you have, and a thing that you know. So you can have a password (The thing that you know) and a fingerprint (a thing that you have) and only with both of those you can make higher privilege changes to your computer. If someone guesses your password but doesn't have the devices to put your fingerprint in, it's almost as worthless as having nothing.
5. Avoid public Wifi
We all love free public wifi, but it is really easy to join a wifi network that is not secure. Some hackers make their computer wifi antenna project a wifi signal that claims to be your local coffee shop wifi, so if you connect to it all your network traffic is filtered through their computer. Even if some information is encrypted, they may also copy your keystrokes and learn passwords and usernames through keylogging. If you choose to use a public network just pretend that everything you do is being watched by someone or use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to make a secure connection. If you are able, you can also use your own phone as a hotspot for your computer and avoid the public network altogether.
6. Never leave your computer unlocked and unattended
This last one seems obvious, but many people leave their computers open or not having any password on it when they leave for a cup of coffee. Every time you leave your computer you should always lock it. With newer computers, many of them come with fingerprint readers that make it really easy to jump back on quickly and easily without typing a long complex passcode each time. Even if you don’t think you have anything important on your computer. If your computer has any passwords to servers or emails then your computer is the first step to a hacker breaking into the more complex security.
Now that you have gotten this far you have some basic ideas on how to stay safe in the digital world. I hope you apply them and think twice before giving someone access to passwords they shouldn't have. Stay safe.
