5 errors that you should avoid to be more secure in the network
Network Security
Greetings friends Steemians!.
In this post I will talk about the importance of the security of our data on the internet, what things we should avoid to be more protected against cyber fraud, hacking and other crimes that take place in the digital world.
Cybercrime has already become a huge problem for businesses, governments and citizens around the world. Although there is more and more awareness, it is always good to be alert to the vulnerabilities of our equipment and devices in which we have our data.
Sometimes, computer equipment does not have antivirus or is misconfigured, backup copies are not made and there are no contingency plans in the companies or formal areas dedicated to protect the information in the network.
To avoid being a victim of havoc and cybercrime I will mention five basic mistakes that, as a user, we can not afford to commit:
- Email:
Social engineering techniques are as old as computer science, yet people still fall into the trap of cybercriminals. As of today, email or email is still one of the main attack factors.
Although the digital delinquents have been improving the strategies and quality of the emails to give them a more legitimate appearance, they work continuously to deceive the user, there are some signs that continue betraying their falseness as for example:
Spelling errors, emails that seem translated from another language automatically. Strange subjects like you've been the million dollar winner.
Senders with and domains that have nothing to do with who says to be sending the email.
These should be some of the reasons more than enough for you to detect a possible scam.
The recommendation that I can give you is to carefully check each email you receive in your tray, as well as the content of the messages.
Also, in case the mail generates some kind of doubt for an alleged identity spoofing of any entity, company or person, I advise you to access the websites of these services of your trust and verify your address manually in the browser instead of following the link included in the mail.
I also recommend you to be very careful with the attachments, since it is likely that some could be infected with viruses.
In case of doubt, it is important to verify the extensions and only open those that come from reliable sources, once you have verified that this contact really sent you that document.
- Social networks
Social networks is today the most preferred scenario for cybercriminals to make threats in a massive way.
Many of the users of today do not take proper care of their profiles and forget to review the privacy and security settings and this is one of the main causes of vulnerability.
It is important to verify the authenticity of the information that is shared, as well as the profiles that we accept in the networks. In addition, you have to be very careful with shortened links and messages that attract attention, the most common are: "look at this!", "Change the color of your WhatsApp" or "download the new emojis".
These types of phrases are often used to capture personal information for possible fraud, threats, harassment, etc., or to deposit a virus on your device.
In addition you must have a lot of Caution also with the trending topics, which are usually topics used as a hook to capture victims on Facebook and Twitter.
- Password
This is a very important point, simple passwords are easily guessable and, if they are also used in more than one online service, a hacker could access all the accounts of a user with very little effort.
Cybercriminals are able to use brute force to try to guess predictable combinations of passwords or buy bases of stolen and filtered passwords.
Despite the recommendations, which are made every day to people, institutions, etc, every year * "123456", "password" or "qwerty" are some of the most used passwords and many users still do not realize that a weak password represents an open and accessible door for cybercriminals.
I recommend generating totally complex and different passwords for each service or account, for example combinations of uppercase and lowercase letters, numeric and special characters such as: "# $% & / (=), this can give you greater security when it comes to suffer a cyber attack.
- Updates:
As a user, this usually happens very often, ignoring updates is another of the most frequent errors. Either in an desktop computer, a laptop or a mobile, there are always software updates for applications and devices, operating systems or security solutions.
How many of you hate pop-up windows?
Yes, they are irritating and this contributes to many of the users do not understand the importance of having always updated in the latest available version. However, by not updating them, our devices and software are weak and totally vulnerable to any attack, and this can cause serious problems.
To make life easier for users, many of the cybersecurity companies recommend configuring automatic updates and thus be fully protected and prepared for any attack on the network.
- Attitude:
Beyond the technological issue, it is important that as a user you take all kinds of precautions, which sometimes due to lack of attitude we do not.
"Lack of awareness on the subject of security is, possibly, the biggest problem with security today, and it has been for decades.
Frauds and computer crimes are a coveting business, the information and resources obtained are sold to the highest bidder, so any user could be affected by an attack.
Avoiding public Wi-Fi networks as much as possible and using complex and unique passwords to achieve the best levels of security is not a difficult task but it does require a change of attitude.
Combining these good practices with regular software updates, an anti-malware solution, VPN networks, password managers and messaging applications that use encryption add layers of security that help us be more secure against cyber attacks.
It's all friends, I hope this post helps you to take forecasts and more awareness when managing your profiles and passwords, I hope you are never victims of any attack on the network.