Cybersecurity For Every User
Organizations face a colossal threat in the Cybersecurity landscape every day. Global cybercrime reached more than $2.1 trillion in 2019, and it is predicted that cybercrime damages will cost around $6 trillion annually by 2021. You get to know about a new massive data breach almost every month. The top enterprises have a really tough time keeping up with the threats hitting their security teams every day.
Hundreds and even thousands of security events will flood your network each hour of each day. Your team could have a significant challenge of winnowing through these events to spot the threats that would cause a risk of compromise.
You must be thinking that Cybersecurity is important for big organizations only and that your small or midsize business does not need so much security. No, that’s not true. Nowadays, hackers find SMBs a lot more attractive as they think they will have fewer controls and are easier to penetrate. 90% of cyber crimes are caused by human error or behavior.
Essential Cybersecurity elements that every user should know to protect themselves from data breaches, identity theft or cyber-attacks.
- Password and Credential theft
- Public WI-FI networks
- Phishing Scams
- Social Engineering
- Malware
- Device security
- Data Backup
Let’s understand what these are and what you can do to protect yourself from these scams and shakedowns.
Password and Credential theft
This type of attack involves Cracking of password or stealing credentials like tokens, SSH keys, DevOps secrets, etc. to gain access to accounts, personal information, assets, or data.
Every user should have strong passwords, unique for each account, ensuring that it’s lengthy and complex enough to be guessed by a bad actor.
There are few practices which help you get a secure and robust password including
- The length of the password should be at least 8 characters.
- Passwords containing letters, numbers and special characters.
- Obvious Information like names and birthdays shouldn’t be used as your password and for better protection changing or
- Updating your password every 6 months is very necessary.
Public WI-FI networks
Users should also be very cautious about the network connections they’re using outside their house or work. There are a lot of risks and possibilities that the public networks are being tapped.
It’s a dream come true for the hackers when you connect to a public wi-fi connection they can discover all your email accounts, credit card information and all the sensitive data you are handling about your work.
How to avoid falling prey?
- Only connect to private networks when carrying confidential information.
- Never connect to Wi-fi outside your work or home, Use your mobile data instead.
- Turn Off wi-fi on your devices when you are not using it.
Phishing Scams
Phishing Scams are one of the most significant cybersecurity threats as they are very easy to fall for. They look like they are from credible sources that force the user to open the malicious link and give out their credentials.
To protect yourself from falling prey to these types of scams:
- Avoid taking action on emails from unfamiliar sources and senders.
- You can spot a phishing email by looking for grammatical errors and the mails relying on a sense of urgency.
- Your job is to be smart and not open emails and links that look suspicious.
Social Engineering
When hackers do not find security vulnerabilities, they use other tricks and techniques to get into the users’ minds and share their sensitive information like login details and passwords.
Beware of social engineering.
How to avoid falling prey?
- Check if the message you got was from a credible source before acting on it.
- Don’t download files you don’t know. Research the mail having “URGENT” written on there email headline before opening them.
- Nobody should be asking for your personal information unsolicitedly. Delete any request for personal information and passwords.
Malware
Always use reliable antivirus systems. People who do most of their work on computers and laptops should install a reliable antivirus program so that you won’t have to worry about all the malware attacks and protecting your business files and confidential documents.
Installing an unknown program in your system can let viruses, worms and trojans into the systems. They can be combined with keyloggers or other malware software that can steal your data.
Device Security
Security doesn’t end at your desktop.
Today almost everyone has a mobile device. Everyone brings their devices to the workplace, connects with the corporate network and has access to company data.
Mobiles have the same amount of threat as desktops or laptops. Mobiles could be less secure because they lack pre-installed endpoint protection.
Employees must secure their mobile devices as well.
How to ensure device security?
- The devices should be connected properly to the network and should always be in their possession.
- Users should always be cautious of what links they are opening and what applications they download on their systems.
Data Backup
Backing up data regularly is essential.
Storage doesn’t cost a lot these days, so there’s no excuse to keep your essential data back up.
It is very essential to keep your data backed up in someplace else. Even the smallest mistake made online can cost you a lot.
It is not just that hackers will just steal your data. Sometimes they erase the data from your systems, so you must keep a copy of it safely stored on external memory.
Cybersecurity may seem like a minor issue to you, but it occurs daily. A large number of inexperienced and careless users are being targeted every day by hackers. Suppose you don’t want to be a part of this malicious attack. In that case, you need to follow these tips and make sure to protect yourself from dangerous security breaches. Cybersecurity helps your organization remain in front of cyber threats by giving a tool compartment of approaches, strategies, and programming to recognize and secure against dangers.
A thorough cybersecurity technique, upheld by reliable approaches, cycles, practices, and devices can altogether lessen the danger that an association or individual will be focused on or harmed by cyber-attacks.
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