The internet is probably the greatest invention of the 20th century as it serves as a bridge connecting people from across the world in a seamless fashion. The web connects everyone from your friends and family to the businesses that function on a global scale, helping create a global economy and a global society that helps link several cultures together. However, its open nature attracts a lot of ill-doers as well, like Scammers, Identity thieves, and Hackers and it is important to understand how you can learn Internet Security Against Hackers.
So, who are these people? They are called Cyber-criminals, and they can cause harm in several ways, including stealing your details like phone numbers, bank details, your contacts and also on top of that, they can infiltrate your online profiles through means of hacking or stealing your passwords using nefarious methods.
Anyone can become a victim of such activities. It is in our best interest to follow some safety guidelines to safeguard ourselves beforehand as our privacy and our life in this ever-growing digital playground are of paramount importance. So here are some tips to protect ourselves –
1. Using VPN –
A Virtual Private Network is a great tool to protect your privacy when you are surfing the web, sites that you visit try to gather information automatically like your location, your IP address that you can keep safe by logging into 192.168.1.20, your browsing activity on the site, which can be utilized to serve you more relevant ads or can also easily become a breach of your personal information.
A VPN simply adds a protective layer that masks the data you send and receives, often placing your digital location in a completely different country. An easy to use and reliable tool to consider as one of the basic methods of internet safety. Examples – NordVPN, Psiphon Pro, Express VPN.
2. Using Anti-virus software –
Viruses and scripts which are used for hacking or causing harm to the victim’s computer can be implanted using several methods like a downloaded file, through a pen-drive, or disk and software.
Anti-virus serves like a security-guard, scanning the whole computer and actively checks new files for virus or potentially harmful constituents and takes action against such culprits by putting the harmful file in quarantine or eliminating it completely if required.
3. Browse secure sites –
When we browse the web, we rarely give time to observe if a site is secure or not. In browsers, the address or the URL bar can tell us whether a site is secure by showing a 🔒 ‘lock’ icon. This is the symbol for HTTPS connections, which is a security protocol that encrypts the data between the site and the user, preventing interceptions and tampering via a third party.
Hackers often create a site that is similarly designed and named as a popular site, which can often trick people into believing that they are on the actual official site. The hackers can then collect the information input in this manner.
4. Beware of Phishing –
One of the most popular methods of hacking in the early era of the web was through phishing. The victim would download a file, usually sent via an email or often advertised as some other program on any cloud hosting site, which would convince the victim to download and open the file.
Once opened, the file releases a script that can do anything from collecting information on everything that is keyed in the computer like emails and their passwords, social media account information, and even chats. This information is relayed back unbeknownst to the victim via the internet back to the hacker. Never download any file from a strange email or from an untrusted site.
5. Manage your passwords –
It is very common for people to consider using a simple and repeating password across a majority of their digital accounts as new services keep rising, so does a need for a new account.
However, choosing the same email and password for all your accounts can lead to a devastating domino effect, where if a single account gets hacked, all the accounts are at risk of getting hacked as well. It is advisable to use different passwords for your various accounts and enable two-factor authorization for maximum safety.
A password managing service is a very handy tool for easing the burden of memorizing every password.
6. Banking Online –
Using your cards and bank accounts on various platforms for services has become a very common norm. Most of us have digital wallets and have our cards or bank details stored in shopping and bill payment apps. These are some of the most crucial details which, when acquired by a stranger, can cause heavy financial losses.
It is advisable to never use your card on untrusted sites, apps, and especially on someone else’s device. If there is a requirement, then immediately removing the saved details is the safest option down the road. Immediately block your cards and bank transactions if any strange transaction occurs through your account.
The internet is ever-growing, and so are the attempts of the organizations providing various services to protect their users from nefarious acts like hacking. We have evolved our security protocols drastically in the past few years. The fight against cyber-crime continues every day; it is in our best interest that we try and protect ourselves as much as we can when we utilize these services for a fun and undisturbed surfing experience.
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