In the 1990s the World Wide Web was born and brought with it the promise of a new era of possibilities and threats. Spam affected emails and computer viruses wreaked chaos on corporate networks and hacking was a major problem. Hackers can steal your personal information, take over your online bank or credit account, and then sell your personal information on the dark web for a lot of money.
Your online life has become more complex than ever. You’re using a smartphone, you buy online and make payments online, you’re a user of Facebook, and even your home appliances that are connected to the internet and IoT devices are tracking and monitoring your activities. Hackers have access to all of the information, regardless of whether they’re part of a criminal gang or a random person with an agenda of political inclination.
To guard against hackers make strong passwords for each of your accounts online and use a secure password manager to keep on top of them. You should consider using two-step authentication. This adds a second layer of security, requiring you to enter a code received via email or phone in addition to your login password. Secure your hard drive meeting the executives online to ensure that hackers are unable to access your data even if they are able to gain control over your computer or mobile device. Also be sure to disable ‘run as administrator’ on your PCs, don’t jailbreak or root your phones, and close down your computer instead of running all day long (all-time running ruins your device performance and opens it up to cyberattacks). With the proper software tools to screen malware removal, uninstalling, and encryption of data will reduce the risk of being a victim.