Online malicious hacking activities are on the rise. The latest news about Russian hackers stealing 1.2 billion usernames and passwords is a testament to how vulnerable we could be. Online activities is part of our daily life including banking, emails, social networking, and shopping. Having your password stolen could be very costly on all levels.
Don’t panic yet! First things first, if you have not changed your online passwords yet, you should do so right now. In addition here are 5 easy steps to help you protect yourself from hackers.
- Install Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware Software:
Many hackers rely on viruses and spyware to gather information or gain access to someone’s computer. A malware can infect your computer in various ways. The most common is via an internet download. It could be an image, a video, or a software application. A good anti-virus, and anti-malware software can detect malicious programs and stop them from infecting your computer. It is also recommended to install an anti-malware software on your mobile device or tablet. There are many anti-malware apps that can be downloaded for the IOS or Android platforms.
[divider] - Don’t Click on That Link Yet:
Another way that hackers can gain access to your information or computer is through links in emails. Many such emails can be disguised as legitimate emails.
For example you could receive an email that appears to be coming from your bank asking you to click on a link to login and check an update. Even if the email “From” looks like coming from your bank, and the logo of the bank is displayed in the email that still does not mean the email is from your bank.
The rule of thumb that I follow, if I receive an email from someone I know, organization or person, I call and verify that they send me such email. If I receive an email with a link from someone I don’t know or did not expect, I don’t click on that link.
[divider] - Look for HTTPS before You Submit your Information:
Whenever you are browsing a website your browser establishes a connection with the server that the website is hosted on. There are two types of connections:Connection Port Address Starts With Unsecured 80 HTTP:// Secured (SSL) 443 HTTPS:// With unsecured connection (HTTP://) all information exchanged between your browser and the server are in plain text (not encrypted). Hackers can use what’s called packet sniffers to read all such information. If you submit personal info such as username password, credit card number using HTTP:// hackers might be able to capture that. Therefore always make sure the website address starts with HTTPS:// before you submit any sensitive information [divider]
- Don’t Plug That USB Flash Drive Yet:
USB drives are very useful and widely used. Because it uses USB (Universal Serial Bus) USB drives can be programmed to act as any other device. For example if used maliciously a USB drives can be programmed to act as a keyboard and type a set of commands to compromise your PC, or as a wireless network card an reroute your internet traffic to a hackers server. The best practice is not to plug anyone’s USB drive into your computer and not to share your USB drive with someone else’s computer. If you need to share information, software, or documents with someone use cloud storage solutions like Drop box, OneDrive, or google drive.[divider] - Change Your Passwords Frequently:
Sometimes it takes a while to discover a hacking incident. Changing your passwords frequently will make whatever passwords a hacker stole old news and will help prevent them from accessing your account. A best practice is to change a your password every 3 months or sooner.[divider]
