Computer and Network Security | Digital Footprint | Technology | Phishing
5 Essential Cybersecurity Best Practices Literally Anyone Can Do….Yes Even You
Following these simple guidelines will greatly enhance the security of your digital footprint and help to insulate you from bad guys
With a pandemic ravaging the planet, there has been a renewed emphasis on personal hygiene. Don’t touch your face, sing the ABCs when washing your hands, cough into your elbow, and for the love of God, never leave home without hand sanitizer. All this emphasis on personal cleanliness, but how hygienic are we with our digital lives? Bad actors are constantly trying to take advantage of your electronic presence and implementing these simple strategies will help mitigate your risk.
- Always update your operating systems and applications software
This is one of the easiest and most effective ways to protect yourselves from filthy hacker bad guys. Vulnerabilities and exposures are constantly being found, sometimes by people seeking to exploit them, and sometimes they’re discovered by firms who are paid to find them. When these exploits become known, they’re disseminated to the cybersecurity community so that developers can issue patches and updates.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures website is a list of these threats which exists in the public domain. Guess what that means? It means people that want to take advantage of these vulnerabilities don’t have to search very hard. This transparency also forces tech companies to update their products to protect consumers. The problem occurs when the end user is playing fast and loose with their systems and not allowing these patches or updates to install.
So the next time your iPhone or PC asks you to let it update, just say yes. Or save yourself the trouble and turn on auto updates for your important applications and operating systems.
2. Never click on links or download attachments from shady email senders
One of the most common ways to expose yourself on the internet occurs when interacting with phishing emails. These social engineering tactics will send nefarious attachments or links which can introduce malware to your system by way of embedding malicious code into the attachment or sending you to a website with code that can introduce worms or viruses.
Oftentimes spam email will contain links routed through Bitly which is a URL shortening service. Always be wary of links routed through this link management platform as they can be used to obfuscate the actual URL from the victim. These links can route you to a server that does not use HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure), and none of the data transmitted will be encrypted. Hackers will create phony websites that mimic actual sites such as banks or online payment services, perhaps asking you to update your password or verify your email. This can result in devastating data breaches.
It is important when getting emails from someone you don’t know, to pay attention to the link before clicking on it. Making sure the link uses HTTPS encryption protocols can help to inform you that your data is encrypted when being sent to this web server. However, HTTPS alone cannot protect you from malware when you get to the site.
There are numerous antivirus softwares that will automatically scan websites for malware, Windows and Mac both have built-in antivirus software for example. If these are not robust enough for you, internet service providers offer them as well, these are safe and mainstream alternatives.
3. Always utilize strong passwords and don’t use the same one for everything
Always make sure to deploy strong passwords for applications that have access to sensitive information like bank accounts or payment credentials. Strong password guidelines are straightforward.
Make your passwords at least 8 characters long and be sure to use a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters. That’s literally it, simple. It is important to do this because weak passwords can easily be cracked using free password cracker tools.
It is also important not to reuse the same password for everything on the internet. I know it simplifies life to have one strong password and just plug it in for everything, but this is very dangerous. Data breaches happen all the time and when they do, your information for that account ends up on the dark web. These login credentials can be purchased and used to gain access to your other accounts. Using the same email and password every time you need to give login credentials would result in numerous accounts being jeopardized as the result of one data breach.
One of the hurdles to using multiple different passwords is that this can be difficult to maintain. You can use a password manager but the risk there is that all your passwords are in one spot, if something were to happen to the password manager it could be a disaster. One approach for password management is simply to just write them down somewhere and keep them in a secure location.
4. Use a unique password for your home Wi-Fi router and make sure it’s enabling modern protocols
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) protocol was a Wi-Fi security protocol introduced in 1997 and the antiquated encryption it uses poses a significant threat. While mostly phased out and replaced by Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) protocol, WEP still exists and the skill levels to take advantage of it’s vulnerabilities are close to zero. If your router still utilizes WEP, it’s life cycle has passed and it needs to be replaced with something more modern.
WPA2 and WPA3 are the current industry standards for wireless computer networks. Most modern routers in the US utilize them. However it is still important for the end user to deploy a strong password for your network. While default passwords may appear to follow “strong password” guidelines, these are often well known and vulnerable, allowing hackers to access your network swiftly and efficiently. Make sure your Wi-Fi password is original, strong, and utilizes password guidelines outlined in practice 3.
5. Use two-factor authentication (2FA) for important accounts
A lot of accounts that have access to banking credentials or credit card information will allow you to implement two-factor authentication (2FA). This is an imperative measure to help insulate yourself from bad actors as the second factor can be a cell phone number or authenticator application. This creates another layer of protection for your data and makes it very difficult for your information to be exposed.
This extra layer of protection may be overkill for accounts that don’t have access to sensitive data, but anything with access to financial information or personally identifiable information (PII) should definitely utilize 2FA. When coupled with a strong password, this extra authentication measure protects you and your information.
If you follow these guidelines, and sing the ABCs while washing your hands, you can be sure that your personal and cyber hygiene will protect you from the world’s troubles.