The rapid growth of digital involvement in our daily activities has increased the level of exposing our personal data on the web more than ever. In fact, a recent report shows that Global internet users have climbed to 4.95 billion at the start of 2022, with internet penetration now standing at 62.5 percent of the world’s total population. The internet users have grown by 192 million (+4.0 percent) over the past year.
The recent explosion of digital currency, and its related activities like online trading platforms, have made it easier to invest in the stock market, forex, NFTs, or cryptocurrency. Unfortunately, it’s also made it easier than ever for cybercriminals to operate and take away people's investments.
According to the United States FTC, fraud losses increase more than 70 percent over 2020 to more than $5.8 billion, where Prizes, sweepstakes, lotteries, internet services; and business and job opportunities rounded out the top five fraud categories.
As many of us spend more and more time online, cybercriminals continue to lurk in the background, devising plans to steal your personal information. Although online platforms and financial institutions have an obligation to safeguard your personal and financial information, you have an important role to play also.
Cyber threats are not limited to individuals and private enterprises; government-oriented organizations are equally vulnerable targets. On obtaining access to any operating system, any malware can easily encrypt the victim’s files.
Remember that we’re in the era of the Zero-Trust Security Model ( trust nothing and verify everything) watch your back and be vigilant enough to take the necessary measures to avoid stories that touch.
With the following tips, I will discuss how you can protect yourself from a sudden attack, Or use it as a checklist to see whether each of these important aspects is still being given the attention it deserves-in addition to daily online activities. Because cyber security only works if you understand it as a challenge that you face every day.
1. Operation think before you click
Have you ever seen an email that appears to come from a legitimate firm, asking for information your financial institution would never request through emails—such as confirmation of an account number, password, credit card number, or Social Security number?
They may pretend to be your email service provider, your boss, your bank, a friend…. The message may claim it needs your information because you’ve been a victim of cybercrime.
This act of hacking is called email phishing- sending emails that appear legitimate but ask you for sensitive information. The best way to protect yourself from a malicious link is to make sure you don't click on any.
Online activities are daily involvement in this era and there is no way you'll open up your browser in a day without clicking a link. That’s why you have to think and look well before clicking any link.
2. Two-factor authentication is not stressful take your time to do it
Gone are the days when your trusted password can protect you. Even if you have a unique password for every website you use, there’s little in the way to stop malware on your computer (or even on the website!) from scraping your password and using it again.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a key control to significantly reduce the likelihood that a cybercriminal can take over your account. Unlike single-factor authentication (e.g., a password) MFA uses two or more different types of factors—such as a password and a code sent by text message, or a physical identifier, such as a fingerprint, voice, or facial recognition. Enabling MFA will provide added protection if your account password is ever stolen.
Two-factor also protects you against phishing emails. If someone sends you a dodgy email that tries to trick you into logging in with your Google or Facebook username and password to a fake site, for example, two-factor can still protect you. Only the legitimate site will send you a working two-factor code.
3. Your shield is your backbone
Your password is your first shield, this means the stronger your password the safer your account will be. This doesn't mean that your account is totally secured but safe to an extent. For example, last year, the most common password was 123456 which was used by 3.5m people and was cracked in less than one second.
Do not share your passwords with others, use a different password for each of your accounts, and change your passwords regularly. To keep track and protect your multiple passwords, consider using a password manager—an application that protects online accounts by suggesting and saving individual, strong passwords for each account.
4. Always Be Suspicious
You can never be too cyber secure, so you must be willing to take extra steps to ensure that your financial information and personal security do not fall into the hands of cybercriminals.
It’s good to always be skeptical of any unsolicited request for information online or over the phone involving your data. Even some paranoia may be helpful, as long as it keeps you safe.
- You can always have the below points as a keep to heart key point whenever you’re on the web
- The network is always assumed to be hostile
- Threats, internal and external, always exist in the network
- Network location is not sufficient for determining trust in a network
- Every device and network flow is authenticated and authorized Policies must be dynamic and derived from as many data sources as possible.
5 Maintain computer security.
Protect your network from breaches, intrusions, and other threats to your business data with powerful encryption and bespoke tools to combat multiple types of cyberattacks.
Security software packages with anti-virus, anti-spam, and spyware detection features are a must if you engage in online financial transactions.
For computers, be sure to use up-to-date security software and configure the software for automatic updates and patching. For all devices, install security updates as soon as you receive a security update notification.
Check your computer hardware and software provider's websites for tips to check and improve the security of your system.
Conclusion
As individuals and Organizations, it is your responsibility to protect yourself and your data by implementing the necessary measures required from online security birches.
It is also important to seek advice from a trusted cybersecurity consultancy to understand how to best implement a Zero Trust framework.