The internet is by far and away the greatest technological advancement of our time and it is something which all of us love and use each and very day of our lives. There is a large issue here however as most of us use the internet to share personal information, stories and data, which leaves u vulnerable to cybercrime. Cybercriminals will find all manner of ways of hacking into our computers, phones and tablets and the worst thing is that you may have absolutely no idea about it. This is not someone breaking into your home and stealing your things, this could be someone on the other side of the world with a laptop and criminal intentions, who can steal every bit of information about you from bank details to your plans for the summer. We spoke to the CEO of Secure Channels Richard Blech to find out what you can do to protect yourself.
Anti Virus
The bare minimum which you should have on your computer is some antivirus software and whilst it can be a bit pricey, it is more than worth the investment. Antivirus software that is on the market at the moment will be more than enough to protect your personal computer and it is equipped enough to deal with the most sophisticated of threats. Be sure to turn your updates on so that the software can keep on performing to the best of its ability and that it can detect any new threats.
Passwords
Over 50% of all information breaches and identity thefts occur as a result of people having passwords that are too weak, or the same password for everything online. You simply must get a password which is impossible to guess and alter your password between different sites. Even more dangerous is the feature which computers and browsers have that allow you to store your password, which essentially gives people free access to your stuff if they have your computer or device in their hand. You must get creative with your passwords and try to use a real fish mash of numbers rather than the name of your child with their date of birth. Cybercriminals have software which basically guesses hundreds of thousands of potential passwords until they can get it right, don’t be the person that gets hacked.
Knowledge
The best way for your to avoid being a victim of cybercrime is to ensure that you are up to speed on the ways in which people plan to attack you. This is something which we do in our home lives and so we should do the same when it comes to our computers. A perfect example would be that we know burglars can break into our homes using the key if we leave the key in the lock from the inside, so we stop doing it for our own safety. If you know that clicking on pop ups can give people access to your computer then of course, you will stop doing it. Don’t think that this cannot happen to you because it can and this is why you must ensure that you are educated enough know what to look out for.