Today, we have a guest post from .
In today’s technological age, cybercriminals are on the prowl and are continuously looking for ways to outsmart their next unsuspecting victim. Here’s how to ensure you’re not their next one.
First, though, it might be valuable to understand the various types of cyber threats that occur online nowadays so that you can be better prepared with clever counteractive measures to ward them off. Dognmonkey.com shares a brief overview of what each of these entails:
Kaspersky explains that usually involves malicious types of software that are specifically designed by hackers to infiltrate your computer either to cause a guise for them to do their dirty work, or it used to gain access to confidential information that they can use for their benefit – which usually comes at the expense or disrepute of yourself or your business.
These are rather popular these days and involve duping unsuspecting recipients into clicking on a seemingly legitimate link (which is actually false) only to end up exposing their personal information to cybercriminals to do with it as they please.
Often difficult to detect, NortonLifeLock notes that occur when private information online between one individual and the next is intercepted by a cybercriminal, who then uses these private online conversations to extrapolate the data they need to perform fraudulent activities.
Now, these are the types of cyberattacks that most of us are wary of if thinking up (and remembering) creative passwords is a weakness of ours. Here, cybercriminals use a variety of tactics to try and gain access to passwords, such as using the dictionary attack and , for example.
In business, a (or Denial-of-service) is usually designed to put an abrupt halt to normal operations online. This is usually done as a means to blackmail or extort business owners of money. Once paid, normal online operations are then allowed to resume.
The risks associated with cyberattacks, including data breaches
From a personal perspective, having your confidential information exposed online can result in dire consequences. More often than not, this information is used to swindle you out of large quantities of money. On the other hand, if you’re a business owner, you could stand to lose more. In fact, financial loss is only one of the things you should be seriously concerned about. Other examples of harm that could be caused to your business include an abrupt halt to productivity resulting in a loss of revenue, and reputational damage if, say, there was a regarding confidential client data, which could then result in your business being held liable for any damages incurred.
There are, of course, certain things you can do to safeguard your personal information such as ensuring your computer’s antivirus system is up to date, using password protection software, avoiding public Wi-Fi connections, and just generally being aware if anything suspicious is happening online and going with your gut if something just doesn’t feel right.
In the end, you don’t need to be fearful of cyberattacks and data breaches happening to you. Because it’s not about if it’ll happen to you, but when and how prepared you’ll be when it does. Moreover, if you have the necessary preventative measures in place, you can stop a cybercriminal dead in their tracks before any serious harm can be caused to you and your business.