With the internet being the main way a lot of us communicate today, cybercrimes have become more and more common now.
They are one of the fastest-growing crime types and can impact the largest corporations, smaller businesses, and even you. Yes, YOU!
This is why, it’s important to stay protected in the digital world. Thankfully, it’s as easy as spending a few minutes tweaking your computer’s settings and developing a few habits. So, let’s look at some of the common cyber threats you need to be aware of and ways you can protect yourself from them.
Understanding Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity Measures and Best Practices
Emerging Trends in Cybersecurity
Understanding Cybersecurity
Cybercrime is a monolithic business.
According to statistics, the number of cybercrime complaints received annually has increased significantly from 2000 to 2023. In the last reported year, the number of complaints was over 880 thousand.
This is why the need for cyber-security is now higher than ever.
A successful approach to cyber security has many layers to it. These layers can be found on most tech products and services these days. From your phone to the computer you’re probably reading this article on, as well as the internet you’re using, these security layers complement each other to create an effective defense against cyber-attacks.
These attacks can come from anywhere and at any time.
Common Cyber Threats You Need to Be Aware About
Cyber threats exist in all sorts of forms and their motives aren’t just financial gain. Here are some of the cyber-attacks you need to be aware of.
Spoofing & Phishing Attacks
These rely on communication methods like emails and text messages to convince you to perform an action that can help the attackers get access to your data.
For example, a criminal can contact you via email and pretend to contact you as a customer service representative of your bank. They might ask for your card details to help you identify a fraud attempt on your account.
Once you give out your details, they can use your card to make purchases in your name without your knowledge.
Malware
These are software that have a hidden malicious intent. Malware can exist in multiple forms like Viruses, Worms, Spyware, Trojans, and ransomware.
There are multiple ways in which the malware can be delivered to the victim. Files can be sent via email, text messages, or social media. They can be embedded in other non-malicious software as well.
For example, let’s say you download WinRar from a shady-looking website. Chances are that the file also has malware that installs itself on your computer. Depending on the nature of the malware, anything can happen, ranging from data breaches to your data becoming inaccessible unless you pay a ransom.
Denial-of-Service Attack
In a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack, criminals can target a system to flood it with traffic and requests to burden them and cause slowdowns or a shutdown.
This means that legitimate service requests are left unattended.
For example, Amazon suffered a huge Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack that lasted for three days in 2020. It amplified the data sent out up to 70 times, which caused a bandwidth loss of around 2.3 Terabytes every second. That adds up to a whopping 9,936 Terabytes of data in just three days!
Cryptojacking
This relatively new form of cyber-attack helps a criminal get access to a computer system through malware that allows them to use its resources to mine cryptocurrency.
Mining itself uses a lot of resources, which is why using someone else’s computer can save a lot of resources. However, this ends up making the victim’s computer slower.
For example, a crypto-jacking code-named Coinhive was discovered on the Homicide Report page in the Los Angeles Times. When users went to the page, their devices were used to mine a cryptocurrency called Monero. This wasn’t detected for a long time because the hackers programmed it so it didn’t use up a lot of resources.
Because of all these methods used to compromise a healthy system, there are some things you can do to keep your devices safe from these attacks.
Cybersecurity Measures and Best Practices
To protect yourself from these malicious cybercrimes, you can use some of the cybersecurity best practices we talk about below.
Keep Hardware & Software Up-To-Date
Companies provide software updates to existing hardware to fix old bugs, add new features, and upgrade security. Update your software frequently to keep yourself safe from vulnerabilities. If your hardware is old, you might face some compatibility issues with new software. So, make sure to update your hardware after five years of use.
Don’t Click on Suspicious Files
If you get an email from an unknown sender or just a weird-looking message on social media, chances are that it’s a phishing scam. Make sure you never click on any attachments or files as they might contain malware that infects your computer.
Use Anti-virus Software and VPNs
As long as you’re connected to the internet, it’s impossible to stay safe from malware. So, use an anti-virus software to scan your computer automatically and remove malware. You can also use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to encrypt your network and privatize your network.
Use a Reliable Internet Connection
Your internet connection matters a lot in preserving your data’s privacy when it’s being transmitted. Use a secure internet connection that offers additional data security features. One great example of this is Xfinity Internet, which also offers xFi Advanced Security at no additional cost if you’re already a subscriber with the xFi gateway.
Encrypt Your Data & Keep It Offline
Encrypting your data is a great way to keep it secure, even if it falls into the wrong hands. On top of this, we also recommend storing your sensitive data in removable storage, which can help you keep it safe, even if your computer is compromised due to a security breach.
Check Links Before You Click Them
Links can be easily disguised and lead to a malicious website. This is why it’s always important to double-check a link before you open it on your browser. Make sure to check for spelling mistakes in the link. For example, google.com might be spelled as googIe.com. If you didn’t notice, the “L” in the second Google is actually an “I.”
Enable Two-Factor Authentication
The use of two-factor authentication allows you to add an additional layer of security to your sensitive accounts. Using this, you will get a code through Email or SMS to verify your identity. You can easily enable this from your account’s security settings menu.
Emerging Trends in Cybersecurity
While newer tech can be used to create more sophisticated cyber-attacks, it is also being used to create newer ways to keep yourself safe in an online world where threat lurks in every corner.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
AI and ML can be used in conjunction to predict and eradicate any threats to your system before they can even do anything malicious. AI can be used to analyze and detect any anomalies in your system based on data provided by ML. This allows you to proactively hunt and prevent any attacks on your system.
Blockchain Technology
While blockchain technology was initially used in cryptocurrency, its applications are also being used to improve the security and transparency of data transmissions online. The biggest benefit of using blockchain for secure data transfers is that you have verifiable records of the parties involved. Not just that, the cryptographic nature also makes the data transfers resistant to fraud and tampering.
Internet of Things (IoT) Security
With IoT becoming more and more popular in the common household, there’s a need to implement strong encryption and authentication. By performing network monitoring and network segmentation, the network’s performance can be improved, all while separating the network that contains the sensitive data.
Quantum Computing
The rise of quantum computing will have a huge impact on the encryption types we use today since these computers can crack this security in a matter of minutes. This is why there’s a need to create a better encryption type, that is more secure and harder for quantum computers to crack.
However, computer researchers have developed quantum-safe cryptography, which can keep your data secure, when quantum computing finally arrives.
Knowing your enemy is winning half the battle. So, till the time of quantum computers comes, you can use the tips we mentioned above to keep yourself safe in the digital world.
Remember folks, passwords are like underwear: you don’t let people see it, you should change it very often, and you shouldn’t share it with strangers.
