Recently I attended cybersecurity level-1 training. Which is a part of the eSaksham project organized by the Cyber peace organization.
It’s a one-day training, at first I thought “In 3 hrs what are we going to learn?'' Maybe they will just provide some basics about cybersecurity and which we can get anywhere from the google”. But I was wrong. I learned many things. I got to know about so many websites to protect our data.
What is Cybersecurity?
Cybersecurity is nothing but providing security to the devices from unauthorized persons.
Most people think the data in their devices are secured and private, but the thing is that everything which is being digitized is not at all private. Whatever the data it may be, that can be theft or misuse.
We are responsible for cybersecurity, and we must make ourselves safe using the technology.
How Cyberattacks are done?
Cyberattacks may happen through emails, visiting unsecured websites, downloads and so on.
Data means contacts, messages, photo/videos, password/ login details, App data, documents, location etc will all be included.
The data will be left behind on the internet when users have been online, and this is the digital footprint. When we search for something, visit websites, check emails, give information to any website, login to any page/website, these all be saved on the internet.
Every website will keep track of their subscribers, users, views and all the information which they have been saved in their profile.
When the location status is on then google My Activity will store your visiting information. So make sure your location status is off.
You know what, people think when they use incognito mode, the information cannot be saved. But it’s a myth. Incognito mode in chrome will not save the browsing history but the website you are using will store the information.
Password Guidelines?
Attackers will have their ways to crack into our system to get the information. It’s our responsibility to save our data and We must take some precautions to avoid these cyberattacks
Create your password (PIN / PATTERN)
The strongest password suggested should be like a sentence with capital letters, small letters, numbers, and signs.
The basic thing we must keep in mind is that the password must be more than 8 letters. I say you, prefer a 12-letter password with a combination of Alphabet, numbers and signs.
Don’t use common passwords or don’t create a password consisting of only letters or consisting only numbers but it must be a combination of all of them.
This password plays a major role so choose the password wisely.
It's better to change the password every 3 months, and you know what? Most corporate companies insist their employees change their passwords as per their privacy terms to avoid cyberattacks.
Do not give your devices to unknown people.
Install Antivirus software.
Beware of free apps and software unless they are verified.
Whenever you sell your devices, check whether data is cleared. It is better to implement the bit erasing technique before giving away your devices.
Bit erasing is a kind of technique where you will be overwriting your memory stack so that the previous data cannot be extracted from your device.
You may think that if you follow these things, your devices won’t be hacked. But it’s not true. This is only 50% and the remaining depends on what you do.
What you should do
Attacks will also happen through random emails, messages, websites etc.
You may receive some mails like they are from a corporate company and want to hire you or you won a prize for a competition or some random advertisement pretending to be known brands like Flipkart, Amazon etc or your loan has been approved.
Through these emails, they provide some links or files and make you visit that link or download that link. This way viruses will be installed into your devices. You click those links, the virus will be automatically installed.
When it comes to loans, price money and other things related to money. Attackers will send you the message with the account number, the amount you won and some of your details. By checking all those, you think that message was genuine, and you go through the link which attacker provided. The attacker may ask for your bank account details and personal information. This is where you do the mistake and provide the information which they needed.
You will be checking something on the internet and some random advertisement will pop up. Those advertisements will be so catchy that you will immediately visit that page. These kinds of links are not original. Original in the sense, link provided may pretend like it’s a Flipkart link, Amazon advertisement, Myntra discount sale and so on. The page will also be the same as the Flipkart homepage but when you check the URL that will be different.
So, whenever you visit these links, do check the URL. Verify the URL and website are matching or not. Then only stay on the page or else leave the page ASAP. And provide your login credentials only when you verified the URL. Till then don’t provide any information.
Don’t do these kinds of things, make a habit of checking the URL and avoid visit the popup links or advertisements. Don’t install anything randomly. Go through your emails randomly.
Avoid connecting to public WIFI, always connect to a known and secure network.
Check your bank statements regularly.
Nowadays, online shopping is a big scam. Shop only on the trusted websites. It’s better to prefer cash on delivery or else check the seller details and the customer reviews then pay for your order through debit card, credit card, net banking and whatever it may be.
Check the cybersecurity news daily. Many websites provide the news in a user understandable way. Not only the cyber professionals but also people with no knowledge can also be able to understand what’s going on around you. Know what kind of attacks are happening around you. Secure your devices from time to time.
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