4 Ways to Protect yourself from Hackers

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Protecting your Data

In light of various data breaches in 2016, no topic has attracted as much interest than cyber security. With wide scale hacking and other nefarious methods being employed both by criminals and government agencies, everyone is concerned about protecting their information.

With such a threat lurking on every site and from any angle, the only method to best deal with it is to increases your defences online. This includes a number of precautionary methods such as strong passwords and effective antivirus programmes. It also requires a deeper understanding of how threats pop up. In this post, we will cover 5 simple methods one can take in order to protect their data online.

Use Strong Passwords

One of the simplest methods hackers employ is brute force attacks. With this attack, a hacker usually uses a long list of known popular passwords in order to log into your system. They iterate through the entire list in the hope that your password is eventually selected.

Although these attacks are the most common, they are also the most easy to protect against. Use of a strong password will make it nearly impossible for a hacker to brute force their way into your system. This is because the chances of someone else having the same password is so statistically small that the hackers will not be able to crack it. For sensitive information like payment accounts etc, one can use Strong password generator. This will generate a random password for you to use.

If you wanted to use a password that you could remember, it is important to use one that has very little relation to your public information. Don't use birth dates, names or commonly used passwords. Also use a combination of special characters, numbers and letters. Here is a site that you can use in order to test the effectiveness of the password.

Don't Download suspicious items

One of the easiest ways that a hacker can gain access to your machine is through use of Malware. These are malicious pieces of codes which are able to access your machine, record your key strokes and sometimes operate on behalf of the hacker.

This means that you should not download any suspicious programs or scripts. One of the most well-known methods of attack for botnet attackers is to use zip files in emails that have malicious code. If you are uncertain about the file that you are downloading, then it would be advisable to put it through a malware scanner such virus total. This will alert you to any potential malware software.

Download Antivirus Software

Even if you have been incredibly cautious to avoid downloading malicious software, hackers are constantly adapting the manner in which they penetrate systems. This means that you will require an advanced anti-virus programme such as Norton or AVG. These programs regularly scan your PC for any malware that appears to have found itself onto your PC.

They are also able to run regular scans in the background. They will be able to detect any viruses that appear to be spreading by monitoring changes in the function of the PC.

Try to Identify Phishing Attempts

Another common method hackers use in order to get your sensitive information is to ask you for it. Phishing attacks are becoming ever more ingenious in their attempts at grabbing your data. These hackers usually pose as a legitimate service using websites or domains that look nearly identical to the actual site.

These include using chameleon domains (domain names that look similar) to hacking other sites and hosting the malicious pages. They will usually tell you that your account has been compromised and ask you to input your details.

There are usually a few ways in which one can avoid this. Firstly, one should take a clear look at the domain that the phishing message has directed you to. If it is from the legitimate source, then the password reset page will be on /reset sub-folder.

If you are ever suspicious of a phishing attempt, you can always reach out to the company and ask them whether they did indeed contact you. It is rather better to be safe than sorry.

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