During the third quarter of 2022, Global cyber attacks increased by 28% Compared to the corresponding period in 2021, according to Check Point Research. Also a lot of girlfriends fell victim to ransomware attacks and suffered from information gapswhile many people Inadvertently shared sensitive information with threat actors through phishing scams.
And as we enter a new year, we can expect cybercriminals to develop new and more sophisticated ways to steal sensitive information from unsuspecting victims. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to stay safe online in 2023. Let’s take a look at some of them.
1. Use strong and unique passwords
It is important to use strong passwords to secure your online accounts. By doing so, you can reduce the risk of falling victim to brute force attacks, or the trial-and-error method used by cybercriminals where they use common passwords to guess an account holder’s login information.
One way to create strong passwords is to use passphrases, or strings of unrelated words that you use as a password. Because they are made up of words, they are easier to remember than typical passwords that contain random numbers, letters, and symbols. For example, it would take approximately 2,563,379,452,772,621 centuries for a threat actor to guess the passphrase “annoyingly uncut washcloth”, According to Useapassphrase.com.
Finally, be sure to use a unique password for all your accounts. That way, even if one of your accounts gets compromised, threat actors won’t be able to access your other online accounts. If you have trouble remembering your passwords, you can use password managers like Dashlane and 1Password. Password managers can create and store your passwords in an encrypted vault that can only be accessed using a master password. Just be sure to create a secure master password so you can avoid the risk of your account being hacked.
2. Use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Passwords can only go so far when protecting your online accounts. MFA improves the security of your accounts by requiring you to enter two or more factors to verify your identity when logging into your account. These authentication factors can be one-time PIN (OTP), face scan or fingerprint or a physical key. By enabling MFA, even if a cybercriminal gets your username and password, they won’t be able to break into your account if they can’t provide the other authentication factors.
However, as much as possible, avoid using SMS-based authentication, as it is not a secure authentication method. For example, cybercriminals can engage SIM replacement, where they impersonate you and tell your mobile provider that your SIM card is damaged. They will then ask the carrier to transfer your mobile phone number to a new SIM card. This will give them access to the OTP and password reset links sent via text messages. Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey He fell victim to such an attack back in 2019Which resulted in his Twitter account being hacked.
3. Install security updates as soon as possible
Device and operating system (OS) updates don’t just introduce new features. They also often provide important security patches that can prevent cybercriminals from exploiting vulnerabilities to access your sensitive information. As such, be sure to install security updates for your operating system as soon as possible.
4. Protect yourself from phishing scams
Phishing is a type of cyber attack in which threat actors impersonate a reputable entity such as a bank or trusted friend and send legitimate-looking emails to trick users into revealing personal information, such as names, email addresses, passwords and credit card information.
Phishing is One of the most common cyber attacks today. Cybercriminals have also improved their tactics, as they are now Leveraging text messages and voice calls make a sacrifice to people.
To protect yourself from phishing, be careful when clicking on any links, as threat actors can pass a URL like “pay-pal-login”[.]com” as a legitimate URL. Do not download attachments from unsolicited emails either, and never give personal information to anyone on the Internet. Legitimate organizations will never request such information via email, text message, voice call or social media.
5. Back up your data
Many years ago, if you were infected with ransomware, you could easily recover from it by restoring from a local backup. However, players are a threat Up their game and make it difficult for victims to recover their data using this method.
This is why it’s important to store your backups in a separate location, such as an external hard drive or flash drive. You can also use a cloud storage system like OneDrive or Google Drive, which allows you to store your data online. Externally backed up files will not be affected even if your system is encrypted by ransomware.
Do you have any cybersecurity tips to share of your own? Let us know in the comments section below.