Tips to Help You Stay Safe Online
Cyberattacks don’t seem to be going away any time soon and will only continue to evolve as hackers get smarter and smarter. This is why we have to do the same - get smarter and smarter at protecting our personal information online that is.
While there is no 100% foolproof solution to avoiding a cyberattack, there are many precautions you can take. Let’s take a look at some tips below to help you stay safe and minimize online threats.
Everything To Do With Passwords
Hacking statistics show that password spraying is the most common method to obtaining access. This method is simple and relies on the many users that still use easy to guess passwords. All the hacker has to do is some trial and error with common passwords and a list of usernames until one grants them access. The obvious tip on passwords would be to use one that is strong and unique. However, there is a ton more you can also do to ensure your password is secure.
“A good attacker won’t hack in; they’ll log in.”
Two-Factor Authentication
First, you’re going to want to set up two-form factor authentication a type of security software for all of your accounts. This is an extra layer of security when it comes to logging on to your devices. When utilizing two-factor authentication, you must verify the user is you before the login attempt is successful.
How so?
Usually, this is done through an app, at Omega we use DUO, where verifying who’s logging in can be done in three ways: sending a push notification, by phone call, or with a verification code sent as a text message to their smartphone which prevents access on other devices or applications until the code is entered.
Social Profile Clues
When coming up with the answers to your security questions you need to take into account if the answers are easy to find information online. Either through your social profiles, school records, etc.
Common security questions are:
1. What is the name of the street you grew up on?
2. What was your high school mascot?
3. What is the color and make of your first car?
While you may think how would someone know the answers to these unless they knew me? However, your social profiles are a great place to look at to find this information.
A lot of people have their hometowns in their ‘About Me’ sections, along with the high school they graduated from, and pictures from when they got their first car.
From there hackers can run a background check on you to locate your addresses, type in the name of your high school to find the mascot, and zoom in on the picture to see the make of the car. By having all of this information publicly available on your social profiles, you are basically giving hackers the key to your door for free.
Password manager
The average person has 70 – 80 passwords. I’m not sure about you, but I know I can’t remember that many strong, unique passwords. This is where utilizing the services of a password manager comes in hand.
A password manager is a tool that creates, stores, and retrieves complicated passwords for you so that you don’t have to. These passwords are kept safe through encryption. And all you have to do is remember just one complex password to your password manager account. Seems easy enough, right?
Some password managers to consider are Quickpass, Lastpass, and Keeper.
Watch Out for Phishing Emails
`Phishing accounts for 90% of data breaches and 97% of people around the world are unable to identify a sophisticated phishing email, according to Retruster. The only way to prevent a phishing attack is by knowing how to identify one.
Even with the best spam filter in place, phishing emails get through. So, your best defense is being able to spot them before you click or download any attachments or files.
Here’s what to look out for in phishing emails:
Bad grammar, spelling, and punctuation
Incorrect logo, colors, branding, and tone
A sense of urgency and immediate action
Informal greeting and salutation (For example “Hey User,” instead of “Hey [your name]”)
Check the sender address, do you know who it is? Are you expecting this email? Check the spelling here too!
Hover over any links to inspect them, before clicking on them. This way the URL will pop up on the bottom left-hand side of your screen to see the full address. Make sure this matches the destination the link is supposed to take you to.
If you are still unsure whether or not this is a legitimate email, you can access the website through a Google search instead of clicking on the link in the email.
Public WiFi and Unsafe Websites
Public WiFi
With so many places offering public WiFi, it can be pretty hard not to use them. I mean it’s free, right! However, you should think twice about what you are using public WiFi for. Never enter financial information such as your bank login credentials or other sensitive information over public WiFi or any other credentials or data you don’t want to get intercepted while using public WiFi.
To ensure the network you are using is not a fake hotspot created by hackers, ask an employee at the location where the public WiFi is offered to ensure that you have the correct network.
Unsafe Websites
When browsing online, there are millions of websites you can click on, however, you should only access websites with a secure connection (the URL starts with https). The important tip to remember here is that you should look for the ‘s’ in ‘https’ when visiting different sites. Sites without the ‘s’ are not secure. This is a red flag, and you should not enter any sensitive information on websites that do not have the ‘s’ in the ‘https’ of the URL.
Use an Antivirus, Firewall, and VPN
A report from DataProt shows that 350,000 new instances of malware are created every day. Because of this and just the overall rise in cybercrime, it’s important to use a strong, up to date antivirus software, a firewall, and VPN.
Antivirus
Your antivirus software helps to protect your computer against malware. Malware is any malicious software such as trojans, viruses, worms, botnets, spyware, etc.
The software looks at web pages, files, software, and applications throughout your network. It searches for known threats and monitors the behavior of all programs while flagging suspicious behavior. From there it blocks or removes malware as quickly as possible.
Firewalls
Firewalls act as your first line of defense when it comes to protecting your network. They provide protection against outside cyber attackers by shielding your computer or network from malicious or unnecessary network traffic. This prevents unwanted traffic and unrecognizable devices from gaining access to your operating system.
VPN
Using a VPN, or a virtual private network is the most secure way to browse online. That’s because VPNs encrypt your data traffic and act as a protected tunnel between you and the server. All the data passing through the tunnel won’t be visible to hackers and they won’t be able to access your information and the activities you do online.
Stay Educated and Aware
Strong cyber defenses come from those who are educated and aware of the latest scams, tricks, tactics, and what to look out for when it comes to online threats and internet safety. While it can be complicated and time-consuming to keep up with the latest news on cyber threats, it’s worth your security.
Try getting a digest newsletter sent to your inbox weekly or check out some cybersecurity news articles once a week either on a website or app. Just knowing not to respond to the latest scam call, email, or text can save you big time if you hadn’t known otherwise.
How an MSP Can Help
Whew, staying safe online can be tough and a lot to remember. If you start small by just implementing a few of these, you’ll be on your way to safer online habits in no time. Or with the help of a managed service provider (MSP), you can let them ensure your antivirus, firewall, and VPN are secure and updated. An MSP can monitor your network for any potential threats and get you set up with a reputable password manager.
A great MSP, like Omega Computer Services, also offers employee security awareness training and can help you learn how to identify phishing emails – the only thing you have to worry about is not clicking any bad links in emails and your MSP will do the rest.
