In the late 1990s, the World Wide Web was born in the 1990s, opening up the possibility of a new world of possibilities and dangers. Spam infiltrated emails, computer viruses caused chaos on corporate networks and hacking was a huge issue. Hackers could steal your personal data and take over your credit or banking online account, and then sell your personal information on the dark web for a large amount of money.
Your online life has become more complicated than ever. You’re using a smartphone, you buy online and make payments online, you’re a user of Facebook and Twitter, and even your home appliances that are connected to the internet and IoT devices are monitoring and recording your activities. All of this information can be accessed by hackers, whether they’re part of an organized crime organization or just a random fanatic with an agenda for politics.
Create strong passwords for your online accounts. Use a password manager to manage them. You should consider using two-step authentication. This adds an additional layer of security by requiring you enter a code sent via phone or email in addition to your login password. Encrypt your hard drive to make it more difficult for hackers to gain access into your private data, even if they do gain control of your computer or mobile device. Also, make sure you disable “run as administrator” on your computer, don’t root or jailbreak your phones, and close your computer instead of leaving it running all day (all-time running can affect your device’s performance and opens it up to cyberattacks). With the right software tools for malware screening as well as uninstalling and encryption of data You can minimize your risk.
