Menu
The cybersecurity threat is not new, and in recent years the risk has become widespread, particularly with the adoption of cloud computing and working remotely.
Our digital footprints are growing, and at the same time, there is the possibility of becoming vulnerable to attacks.
Cybercriminals are getting more advanced in technology, and most cybersecurity experts have to keep up with the technology to protect our sensitive data.
Besides, it is a continued war against cyber-attacks, and companies and individuals must protect themselves.
Data security and data protection is a ways of securing valuable data from unauthorized access. Most people believe that their data is very protected. However, most of us know little about data protection and cybersecurity. Digital information is centered around daily activities like social media, emails, text messages, and more.
In this article, we will discuss the followings:
How do you know if your private or sensitive data/files are secure? Honesty, most of us do not know, and millions of people are exposed to hackers and spammers daily.
1. Malware: This is a type of software that is designed to infect the computer and cause damage to the system. It is usually caused by mistakenly downloading a file or clicking the wrong link. It can spread across multiple computers if care is not taken.
2. Ransomware: Ransomware is malicious software designed to extort money by holding valuable files or computers for ransom until the money is paid. The files will be encrypted with a key until the ransom has been paid. An example is “WannaCry” ransomware. Click here for more information: What is WannaCry ransomware, how does it infect, and who was responsible?
For more about ransomware click here
3. Social engineering: This is leveraging victim information to launch an attack.
According to IDG CSO online, “Social engineering is the art of gaining access to buildings, systems or data by exploiting human psychology, rather than by breaking in or using technical hacking techniques. For example, instead of finding a software vulnerability, a social engineer might call an employee and pose as an IT support person, trying to trick the employee into divulging his password.” What is social engineering
4. Phishing: Phishing is sending fake emails with malicious intent. The intention is to steal sensitive data such as login credentials, credit cards, and other valuable information.
To learn more about phishing: click here to learn more about phishing
Click here to learn more about cyber attacks
Essential data needs to be secure or protected from unauthorized access; these can be your email, bank record, identification, or critical files.
In today’s digital era, we have more data than before, and some of this data needs to be protected. How do we keep our crucial data saved either online or offline? What happens if we lose our important files or the data is stolen?
Cyber attacks are more popular and sophisticated compared to ten years ago. Cybercriminals are getting more intelligent and dangerous than ever.
We have to protect ourselves on the internet and offline. This article aims to educate us on managing and protecting our valuable information.
Protecting your data and recovering it quickly in an emergency is significant.
How can I recover my valuable data in case of an emergency?
There should be a solution that protects our data and allows us to recover lost data.
Anyone can be affected, and we should not ignore an unpredictable crisis. We should always consider this as the same as having an insurance policy for our essential data.
Even IT companies like ours can be affected. Years ago, we had a situation in which we lost critical data from one of our development servers. The system stored our data for development work and tests.
Our development web server was attacked due to its vulnerability. We lost the data, and everything we developed for the web server was gone completely. This was a wake-up call for us to be proactive and find a better way to protect our critical data.
Most importantly, we could recover the information by restoring the data from our backup; our backup plan saved us and allowed us to recover what was lost.
If we hadn’t had our backup and recovery plan, we would have lost the data and hard work we had done developing the Web application.
We identify two areas: cybersecurity awareness and backup, and recovery solutions
These are the best data protection practices on the Internet or offline.
Cisco states, “Cybersecurity protects systems, networks, and programs from digital attacks. These cyber-attacks are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information; extorting money from users; or interrupting normal business processes.” What is cybersecurity
The following are best practices for protecting your information from cybercrime:
CYBERSECURITY AWARENESS
1. Antivirus and malware software protection
The most effective way of protecting your valuable information is anti-virus and malware protection. Antivirus and anti-malware software safeguard against computer viruses and malware that can infect your system. According to Symantec Corporation, a leader in antivirus software, “Antivirus software helps protect your computer against malware and cybercriminals. Antivirus software looks at data—web pages, files, software, and applications—traveling over the network to your devices. It searches for known threats and monitors the behavior of all programs, flagging suspicious behavior. It seeks to block or remove malware as quickly as possible.” What is antivirus software? Antivirus definition. Antivirus software protects against computer viruses and malware, scans the computer, and destroys the threat. Malware is malicious software that can crash your system or monitor and control your activities on the computer. To find the best antivirus protection, please click here End-Point Protection viruses and malware
2. Internet security protection
Antivirus can protect against malware, but our digital presence and online activities must be secure and protected against cybercriminals. Antivirus protects endpoints (computers and other devices), but our online activities are also vulnerable to attacks. This protection includes email, web browsing, file attachments, hyperlinks, display ads, social media apps, connected devices like USB drives, and other blended threats with the potential to deliver malicious payloads. Symantec and additional antivirus software protection offer internet security add-ons to their software packages. We recommend complete protection, including antivirus and internet security protection.
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the standard security protocol for an encrypted link between a web server and the browser. SSL encrypts our data, provides safe internet browsing, and provides data encryption in transit. For more information about SSL, please click here.
Why do you need SSL? The answer is simple; to protect your information, especially when you are transmitting sensitive information online, such as payment information, credit card information, contact information, and other essential data.
How do you know if a website has an SSL certificate? The SSL certificate is a padlock sign we see whenever we visit a website, as shown in the image above. Only some websites have SSL, but always look for this padlock and confirm it’s legitimate before you send any valuable information. The easiest way to check if a website is secure and the SSL certificate is valid is to click on the padlock and click on “Certificate” valid for chrome; other browsers have similar verification. If you are looking for a free SSL certificate for your website, Let’s Encrypt provides a free one, and we give this to our customers free of charge, Let’s Encrypt. We believe that everyone should be able to browse the internet securely. Let’s Encrypt’s key principle is that “Anyone who owns a domain name can use. Let’s Encrypt to obtain a trusted certificate at zero cost.”
3. How to protect your account with a secure password?
Securing your account is a must for everyone that uses password-protected login. The security protection approaches to defend your sensitive data as the cyber threat is becoming outrageous and sophisticated. However, it is essential to understand how to choose a secure password.
Learn about password mistakes and how you can secure your password without hassle. Click here to learn how to protect your account with a secure password Password
4. MFA – Multi-Factor Authentication
MFA/2FA, also known as 2-factor authentication, is an additional level of authentication that proves your authenticity besides your username and password, using a device( such as a phone, fingerprint, or tokens) as another layer of security.
For more information about MFA/2FA, please click here – MFA – Multi-Factor AuthenticationMFA – Multi-Factor Authentication
5. Firewall protection
What is a firewall? It is not a natural wall; it is more like a filter for your network traffic; it scans your system or computer’s activities and blocks any unauthorized event or access to your computer. In other terms, it precludes any suspicious communication to your system. Firewall protection is the process of defending your network and systems from unauthorized access, and this can be access control, restrictions on the web-based on departments, customers, and more. This method usually protects an individual’s or a company’s network by setting up rules about who and what has access to valuable information. How do firewalls prevent computer viruses?
Extra takeaway on cybercrime. According to “creditcards.com,” Studies show Americans fear cybercrime more than physical crimes, such as home burglary or mugging. Experts weigh in on reducing your fear of being targeted by ID thieves.
Since we cannot predict a future disaster or an unexpected crisis, we should have a recovery plan for our valuable data. Backup and recovery plans preserve our helpful information and assure us that we can recover from data loss. Backup is the process of making a backup copy of your data and storing it in a location that is different from the source location. The backup can be a cloud backup, another computer, or a data center. Cloud backup is the best way of storing copies of your computer files online quickly so that you don’t lose them if your system gets lost, damaged, or compromised by malware such as ransomware. A recovery plan is the ability to recover the stored copies of your files. We recommend that you consistently back up your most critical data either in the cloud or in an offsite location for easy recovery. We think backup is insurance against disasters, ransomware, computer crashes, and other emergencies.
Please visit our cloud backup solution: AkolagTech Cloud Backup
Why should we care about how secure our data is? This is the most crucial question we should ask ourselves, and we should be proactive in protecting our valuable data. We can never predict what will happen in the future, but we can be better prepared for it if we face a problem. Let us start taking action to secure what we consider to be very important to us. Many businesses have shut down or run out of business because of data loss, security breaches, and more.
There is an urgency to protect our valuable data, and cyberattacks are very vulnerable to businesses and individuals.
Cyber protection should be the top priority of each individual and business. Cybercriminals are getting more advanced in their craft, and we should take every measure to protect our sensitive data.
Also, cybersecurity training and awareness can be the defensive measure against cyberattack.
1. Get a copy of virus/malware and internet protection; protect your PC/MAC, server, and other devices
2. Always use a strong password with a combination of letters, symbols, and alphanumeric
3. Opt-in for MFA/2FA as discussed above
4. Start backing up your files and computer, including your website
5. Security awareness training and knowledge is the best defensive method against cyber attack
6. Never share your sensitive information with just anyone; ask questions and consult with an expert about cybersecurity; AkolagTech tech support team are here to help you with any cybersecurity question
Notes:
What is a computer virus?
For more information about computer viruses, click here.
AkolagTech’ Security and Backup Solutions – Simple
Security – Multi-Factor Authentication(MFA) and reCAPTCHA
Our Security And Backup Protection Solutions
How to protect your password and have a strong password
Security And Business Continuity Assessments
Best practices for IT security
Network, Systems, Security and Business Continuity Solutions
