Not a day seems to go by in Manhattan without disclosure of some sort of major internet data breach. It goes without saying that personal data is the new and most valuable currency of the digital age. Despite any amount of IT support, malicious hackers will go all out to get their hands on sensitive info like your financial details.
One of the most prominent names at the receiving end, Facebook recently revealed (again) that hackers had managed to access the private information from around 50 million (!!) user accounts. Even though the popular social media platform later went on to say that 15 million of these users lost only the name and contact details to hackers – information including birth-date, religion and search history remains staggering.
However there are several cyber-security tools at work behind the scenes to help us make our information secure –keeping us always one step ahead of the hackers.
Password Management
Secure and hard to crack passwords is an age old piece of advice all of us have heard since the dawn of networked computers. But that doesn’t mean that we are getting any better at it.
According to research, as much as 40% of users have seen their accounts successfully targeted by hackers at least once. A considerable number of users utilize the same password across all their accounts, while an even more percentage use the same password for several log-ins.
Most of data breaches occur due to inadequate protection measures – weak passwords or passwords that are used more than once. Making use of a password manager utility to create strong passwords, store and automatically fill them in on your behalf is essential to minimize your chances of getting hacked.
A Wall for the Web
Logging onto your personal account on social media or commercial websites is an unavoidable requirement for performing tasks online, like for shopping or communications. So it goes without saying that hackers target such avenues as they are likely to process and store valuable personal information. Even the most secure password cannot be your only line of defense against such targeted activity.
A WAF (web application firewall) is a cybersecurity tool that protect their web applications from cyber attacks and deny criminals access to sensitive data. A firewall filters incoming requests to prevent malicious access and prevent some of the most well-known cyber attacks.
Encryption
Data encryption is one of the most important means for protecting our details. When data is encrypted, it is essentially scrambled into indecipherable jumbled code called cipher-text. It can only be understood by one who holds the key to decrypt the data back to its original form.
Data encryption is popular with enterprises and websites. For the layman, popular messenger service WhatsApp employs end-to-end encryption to protect its users.
Secure Traffic
The padlock icon seen on our browser’s address bar when accessing a secure website – especially when banking or shop online – is a sign that the connection with the web server is protected with encryption. So next time, take the time to notice if your favorite website provide a secure connection.
Remember, only by learning how cybersecurity works and employing the right technology tools can we ensure the protection of our personal data.
