Avoid a Hack Attack

Getting hacked is no fun at all, in fact, it’s a nightmare. Being hacked in the digital era means someone has gained access to your online accounts, either stealing your personal information or inserting their own malicious code onto your site. Some big hacks have made international news recently, affecting global corporations and health services. So, is there anything we can do to protect ourselves online?

Your phone

If you don’t have your mobile phone password or code protected then you’re opening yourself up to be a potential target for anyone who may find your phone. Did you know that a 4-digit passcode can have up to 10,000 possibilities but a 6-digit one has 1,000 000? Keep yourself protected as your phone is the easiest target as you take it everywhere with you.

Passwords

We all know how tough it is trying to remember dozens of different passwords so it’s tempting to use the same one for every account we have. This is such a bad idea and makes life a lot easier for hackers who only need one password to access everything about you. Ideally, we should all have a different password for every account we own but don’t panic as there’s a really handy app to help our memory called 1Password.

Two Step Verification

This process is adopted by email providers and provides a secondary layer of security. It requires you to authenticate yourself on another of your registered devices to guarantee that it is you making the request for access. It is especially important that you have this 2-step verification on your email account because if someone were to gain access to your private emails, they could also gain access to other accounts.

Suspicious emails or links

These scams have been operating for years but the fact that people still fall prey to them means the con artists carry on trying. If you receive an email or a link that you don’t feel comfortable with, don’t trust or think looks odd then never open it. There are millions of ‘phishing’ attempts made every day so use your common sense. If you weren’t expecting a tax rebate of thousands of pounds then you won’t have been emailed about it! And even if you were, government departments won’t email you.

Security

Make sure you download the latest security software which include anti-virus and anti-malware features. You can also buy packages that come with a firewall and anti-spyware. A more expensive but awesome option is to purchase anti-exploit software which stops attacks before they happen. Thinking of having a health check-up for your site? For Web Design Reading, visit http://www.starwebinnovations.co.uk/

Alarming pop-ups

Your surfing the web on your laptop when the screen turns into a scary flashing message from Microsoft informing you of ‘critical errors’ with instructions to follow. Rest assured that Microsoft would never contact you in this way and this a scam. Do not follow the instructions and simply close down the page you are looking at. These scammers are attempting to gain access to your computer and steal your personal information and money!