Submitted by Austin
For the last 10 years I have been at the forefront of the international cyber security war for one of the world leading IT firms. Unknown to many there is a daily war being waged against computer systems worldwide to include the average Internet user, “you”.
Identity theft has become the well known cyber crime of choice for many hackers these days, who are now using non technical social engineering methods to lure users into given up private information via spoofed websites.
To make matters worst the image of the average hacker has changed significantly in recent years, the average hacker is no longer a nerdy looking guy with glasses sitting at a PC typing in command line codes to break into a PC like on TV. Today’s hackers are far less trained in the art of hacking, and can easily rely on a sea of automated free hacking software tools provided by a large number of black sites as we call them.
The good news is that there are cyber war fighters like me out there waging a good fight for your protection. The bad news is that we are often outnumbered outgunned, and outresourced be those who desire to commit cyber crimes and exploitation.
So what can you do to protect yourself in simply terms:
Austin’s Top 10 Cyber Security Tips
- Make sure that you apply the latest security updates to your computer, independent of what operation system you are running (windows being the most vulnerable), monthly at a minimum. Regular patching can protect you from many discovered exploits to your computer’s operating system.
- Make sure your virus software checks for updates automatically and daily if possible.
- Dedicate a credit card for cyber transactions if you can. It’s much easier to identify fraud and cancel a transaction or card that way. Many hackers rely on very small transactions that often go unnoticed.
- When entering personal information on a website play close attention to the URL you are submitting that info too, and if it does not feel right exit.
- Routinely delete all cookies from your browser, these can serve as a backdoor for many malicious programs to gain private system information.
- Never create a document on your PC with account information or passwords, you would not believe how easy it is for a hacker to find it. Use an external USB data storage drive to save this type of info if you must, and disconnect it when done.
- Carefully read all popup messages and don’t just say yes, or cancel for that matter, as you could start a chain of events beyond your wildest imagination, and not know it until it’s too late.
- Never join music sharing websites, often you are giving up access to all the data on your system beyond just the music.
- If you think you have been hacked, or have a virus infection immediately unplug the PC’s network cable from the wall. This will stop any of your PC’s information from being sent to malicious data gathering websites, or prevent the infection from spreading to other PC’s on your home or office computer network.
- Share tips 1 to 9 with all family members, knowledge is power against cyber crime.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.