In recent times, it is common to hear about cybersecurity breaches. There has been news about a hacking group known as Shiny hunters. The group is selling user records in 11 companies. The affected companies include Tokopedia, Homechef, Styleshare, and eight other user databases. The group has flooded the dark web with databases affecting a total of about 73.2 million user records.
The reports above show that data breaches can affect everyone. The data of their clients is accessed as a company, and it affects the company’s profits and reputation. The clients are transformed as they lose their records. Harold Li, vice president, ExpressVPN quoted that; “With headlines reminding us daily that companies and governments are collecting our personal data without our informed consent and often then either misusing or failing to safeguard it, it’s no wonder that consumers all around the world are becoming more protective of their data. People are really waking up to the need to take their online privacy and security into their own hands.”
Protecting your data is important and here are the five best cybersecurity services;
Check the privacy settings on your social media
Cybercriminals always check social media for information they can use for hacking. Social media has no limit on the type of information you can send. Your social media may have your private information that can be used to access your important data. Social media providers such as Facebook and Instagram have privacy settings to enable one to set the people accessing certain types of information. You can adjust your privacy settings to ensure that no one accesses any information that can be used to compromise your data. Avoid posting private information on social media. Separate work documents from your personal life to always stay safe at all times.
Encrypt your communication
Browsing unencrypted enables malicious parties to spy on your online activity. Cybercriminals can easily access your data if it is unencrypted. Unencrypted communication can lead to a loss of privacy. The IP address is also accessible when the internet connection is unencrypted. When communicating, always use VPN to make sure that your communication is encrypted. The VPN helps secure your data and even ensures that your IP address is not exposed. When the internet connection is encrypted with a VPN, you are not vulnerable to attacks by hackers, maintaining your privacy.
Avoid sharing emails and contacts.
If you share your email, then cybercriminals can attack you using the email. The cybercriminals that use the emails do it by phishing. Phishing is the use of bogus emails to scam people. The phishers send emails to access private data. To avoid attacks from phishers, keep your email address private at all times. When you share your email frequently, you are likely to receive many spam messages on your email. You can have the main email account you keep private and an email you can discard, which you can share. Always stay alert of any scams and messages that target your data. Do not click on random links that are sent to your email.
Use the cloud
If you do not have time to update security measures regularly, you might be affected by attacks from malicious parties. The updates may take time, and if you do not update them, then cybercriminals may take advantage of vulnerabilities of the older versions of the security systems. The cloud will save you time as it will take care of updating the security and storing data. Ensure that the data is secure, ensure that the cloud provider can be trusted, and protect your data. The cloud saves you from the hassle of checking on the various security measures and updating them. It is an approach that is suitable for small businesses in need of protecting data.
Have strong passwords
If you do not have passwords, your data is not secure. Having a password is the first safety measure to protect your data. Weak passwords can easily be bypassed by the cybercriminals. Have passwords in your accounts and also lock your devices with passwords. The recommended password should have at least eight digits and should not be obvious. It is not recommended to have passwords that have certain patterns or personal details such as your birth date. The feature in browsers that allows you to save passwords should always be turned off.
Bottom Line
In recent times the reports about cyberattacks are many. The news entails issues of cybersecurity. With the increase in cyberattacks, everyone should learn how to maintain their security. Maintaining security involves easy steps, such as stated above. Cyberattacks affect everyone, starting from the big organizations to the ordinary person; hence everyone should be vigilant in protecting data.Certain behaviors should be avoided, such as inadvertent disclosure of information. As you surf the internet, take diligent care to ensure no data is exposed to cybercriminals.
