For the last couple of years, technology has marked a new horizon in every possible field, may it be education, sports, autonomous driving, robotic guide dogs, smart watches, online shopping etc. The entire worlds rests on your fingertip. You don’t have to enter your passwords over and over again. Your OTP is directly copied from the inbox of your phone to any website you are browsing in your phone. Your details are automatically filled for your purchase in any of your favorite shopping applications and the list is endless. Automation has certainly made our lives appreciably easier than ever before, but the bitter truth is the easier the life, the more vulnerable it becomes to cyber threats. Apart from the various benisons, we are observing a rapid increase in the illegitimate use of technology better known as cyber-crime.
WHAT IS CYBER-CRIME?
Cyber-crime is a broad category which covers any unlawful activity that involves computers or their networks. Cyber criminals can be lone wolves or an organized crime group. They can employ various tools and tactics. Malware is the most common methods of attack.it can take the form of a virus, spreading from device to device and infecting whole networks or a Trojan that lets cybercriminals infiltrate your computer or some other type of malicious software.
Instead of attacking your devices, cybercriminals can attack you directly. They can send you fake websites or send fraudulent messages to trick you into entering your username, password or other sensitive data. And there’s the old plain and much disgusting cyberbullying harassment, stalking, trolling and many other forms of abuse.
7 MEASURES TO SHIELD YOURSELF FROM CYBER-CRIME
It’s more important for us to secure out computers nowadays than it is for us to lock our doors. Cyber-crime is a multi-headed beast, so you need to take various measures to protect yourself from cyber-crimes.
· ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE
Always use latest antivirus software to guard against virus attacks. Antivirus software look into your computers for malicious software and remove computer viruses. Whenever you install a new antivirus software, it brings along a list of libraries of virus which constantly gets updated along with software. So, whenever you scan your files for viruses, the antivirus software looks for the matching list of viruses to eliminate them from your computer system.
· A POWERFUL FIREWALL
A firewall is a system that prevents unauthorized access from entering a private network by filtering the information that comes in from the internet. Out on the internet, there is always a crowd of hackers and malicious traffic that may try to penetrate into a private network to cause harm. So, a firewall blocks the unwanted traffic and allows only the wanted traffic. Its purpose is to create a safety barrier between a private network and the public internet. Therefore, in a large organization, a powerful firewall is a necessity to prevent the outsiders from getting the access to the various interconnected devices.
· SECURED PROTOCOL
Protocol is that defined or unified way to communicate across the internet covering the entire world making use of the web. A well secured protocol like FTP, HTTP, SSH, SSL ensures the safety of your data and other sensitive information of a person or an organization from unauthorized parties which may use it to defile the status of the firm or to threaten them.
· VPN
Virtual Private Network is a means to encrypt or secure your data to keep it safe and adds a layer of privacy to protect your identity. When you access the internet via a VPN, your connection is routed through the internet via a secured tunnel to a server in another location where the server accesses the internet on your behalf. Using VPN not only helps in keeping your data safe but also helps in masking your location by making the internet think that you’re located where the server is.
· USE 2 FACTOR AUTHENTICATIONS
Most of the applications these days are updated with two factor authentications which requires an OTP every time you log into your account. It reduces the chances of unauthorized accesses into your account even if they have succeeded in cracking your password. So, whenever someone enters your id and password, they need to enter the OTP to log into your account and for one-time password, they need to have your phone.
· DO NOT USE SAME PASSWORDS EVERYWHERE
Since it’s difficult to remember so many different passwords, people tend to keep their passwords same for multiple accounts and unknowingly give treat to cyber criminals. It takes a lot less effort to track all your accounts when one uses same password everywhere. Therefore, it is advisable to use different passwords in order to decrease the vulnerability of your data at various sites.
· BE CAREFUL WHEN SHARING INFORMATION
People these days become reckless in sharing the information like their credit/debit card numbers, their personal details, and boasting about their whereabouts has become the new fashion. One should be very much sure about the details he/she is sharing on social media and other websites because the cyber criminals use these information as their bait to threaten people.