Are you safe right now? Do you feel threatened in any way? Anyone lurking around a dark corner looking to do you harm?
All of us (at least I hope all of us) feel safe when we’re at home. Home is the place where we can relax, kick back, enjoy some reading, TV or other form of relaxation. But while we feel that sense of safety on our home turf, there are other, very potential threats, looming over the horizon that we either simply ignore, or don’t pay enough attention or give enough consideration to.
I’m talking about Cybersecurity.
If you think you don’t need to worry about cybersecurity, you’re a fool. The need for cybersecurity is all around us because of how the electronic or digital world has changed, enhanced and improved our lives. Along with these improvements comes added risk and individuals wanting to take advantage of that technology and use it against us. This has become all too common today and I’ll bet every single one of you either has been affected by a cybersecurity incident or knows someone who has.
Let me put it another way, if you knew that nine times out of ten, when you step out of your house or apartment, you were going to be hit in the face with a cream pie, you’d pretty quickly learn to either duck, make sure you’re face was covered, or find another way to exit your home. Cybersecurity is the same thing. Cyber crime is up, identity theft is up, malware attacks are up, ransomware attacks are more and more prevalent, so why don’t most people take the appropriate measures to protect their devices and computers today?
So why do people generally not pay attention to their own cybersecurity? Mostly I believe it’s because they haven’t been bit by it yet. It’s true, although there are tons of virus’s, malware and other nasty things out there, most individuals take the “NIMBY” or “Not In My Back Yard” approach (It won’t happen to me!). But that’s really only delaying the inevitable, or taking unnecessary risks that can be more easily mitigated.
How do you protect yourself. Well, for starters, be aware. Use common sense. It doesn’t cost you anything to pay attention and be suspicious of anything and everything you see, hear and read on your computer. Someone sent you an email asking for something? Be suspicious. A message just came up that something is going to expire unless you call “this” number right away and re-subscribe? The IRS said you need to buy gift cards to pay for a tax debt or they’re coming to arrest you? These and more are all big red flags.
And it’s not just trying to get you to enter your credentials, banking information, or credit card info, many of these scams or phishing are far more subtle. I see people all the time answering things like “What’s your favorite color? Mine is <some color>, what’s yours? Post it below and we can compare”, or things about your past, things you like, your old pets names you miss that are no longer here, and on and on that list goes. These are the modern version of the “chain letter” (yes, I’m that old) where they’re simply attempting to harvest your information, no matter how small of a detail you may think it is, or how much you think nobody would care about that. Every single bit of information you offer up is kept, recorded, indexed, and fed into databases to build a profile of who you are, what you like or dislike, and how best to target you for advertising or worse.
Do yourself a BIG favor, NEVER post any personal details online because you never know who is going to see it and the Internet is forever (even if you think you’ve deleted something, it will still live on somewhere).
What’s the best thing to do? How can you protect yourself? Like all things, use your head, common sense, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.
Put anti-virus on your computer. Simply saying that you’ve never been infected and your good isn’t good enough. You must be good every time where the malware writers simply need to be good just once.
Multi-layer your defenses. Use a high-quality anti-virus product? Well, periodically scan your machine with a separate and different malware tool. Different software will find different things, and what one package is good for, another may be better at a different thing. Use extra security precautions on your network! Does your router or firewall have additional security protections? You might consider utilizing those as they block malware before it even gets to your machine! Keep your operating system and all your software completely up to date! There are so many bugs, exploits, and other vulnerabilities out there that machines and software is constantly being updated. It’s a simple fix that generally doesn’t cost anything but can be the difference between protection and infection!
Also, don’t be afraid to ask someone else that may know. Know about what? Anything technical that you don’t know or don’t understand. The world is now more connected than it has ever been and there are all sorts of places where you can post questions and research information on malware, exploits and other vulnerabilities than ever before. Information and knowledge are key to helping keep you and your digital assets clean and safe!
