5 methods to avoid hacking attacks.

5 methods to avoid hacking attacks.

 

Hackers. We see them accessing any computer in movies. We read about their crimes in newspapers. And it seems that no matter how hard state officials are fighting these cybercriminals – they still find a way how to do harm on the web.

Hacker attacks can come in a variety of different types. Most popular are spam and phishing emails – those are being sent in millions every single day. Also, cyber thieves can also sneak into your computer if you are connected to the same internet connection, usually a public Wi-Fi.

We don’t want to let hackers access our private information like passwords or financial data, therefore, we should pay close attention to how we are securing ourselves online.

Here is a quick list of 6 ways on how to avoid hacking attacks:

1. Install antivirus applications.

Viruses are the most popular way of hacking after phishing emails. They can come in different forms like trojans or keyloggers. Latter on will collect every single input from your computer which will reveal hacker your authentification details like username and passwords.

An anti-virus application is essential to have on your computer. The most popular brands are Kaspersky, Eset, Avast.  Anti-virus software plays key role to ensure that files on your machine are not a threat. The application will also scan your downloads, and email attachments will inspect application installation files and much more.

We recommend you having anti-virus constantly turned on since it does not require a lot of computing power. The injected virus will slow down your computer significantly more!

2. Take passwords seriously.

“Your password is too weak!” – more and more websites now have this so-called password checker which lets you know how strong is your password. It is a good thing.

There are more than a few recommendations on how to ensure that your passwords would not get hacked.

First, you should never use the same password twice. Once exposed password will grant the hacker access to a number of your accounts. It’s rather easy to hack or just guess your login name, so if you know the password – doors are open.

Secondly, think of long and complex passwords including characters and symbols. Don’t use your name, surname or birth date when creating passwords – those are easy to guess!

Of course, remembering so many complex and different passwords might be difficult, so password manager apps might come handy. Some worth mentioning names are Dashlane, LastPass and 1Password.

3. Secure your connection.

Your private router should have strong protection. Home routers usually come with a long default password – our suggestion is to keep it this way, although it is impossible to remember it. Since you don’t have to enter passwords often, you can keep that difficult one on.

If you are away from home and have to connect to an external router or some public Wi-Fi, consider installing a VPN service to keep a secure connection. This will change your actual IP address and hackers will not be able to infiltrate your computer. Also, with a VPN you access web content without risk of exposing your digital identity.

4. Ignore spam.

This step is easy and difficult at the same time. If you are using trustworthy email providers like Gmail or Outlook, they are pretty good at detecting phishing emails. Of course, sometimes they mark a legit email as spam which causes some trouble.

But you should always carefully check email sender, subject and content. Spam emails usually come with clickbait subjects, includes words like Free and Money. Also, content is poorly written, there are millions of links within the email. So if you do not know the sender and email looks suspicious – it is better to ignore that message.

5. Use a firewall.

Firewalls are usually enabled by default on your computer, regardless if its Mac or Windows machine. In essence, firewalls are the first line of defense that stops any intruders that are trying to access your business network.

Similar software can also be found in internet routers, companies like Cisco are offering such products.

Conclusion.

At the moment, people are equipped with many security features even before they turn their phone or computer on. Routers, hosting companies are working hard to avoid any chance of hacker attacks.

But on the other hand, cybercriminals are becoming more and more advanced and finding new ways to access your computer. So it is always important to keep eye on your set-up and make sure that you’ve done everything in your power to avoid information leaking

About The Author

Jawad Alalawi – Information Technology Specialist



Information Technology Professional specialized in Financial Payment Services, Risk Management, Information Security, and Compliance. Experienced in solutions development and implementation, and technology team work breakthrough.

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