by : Brooke M. Perry
In this virtual
world, where threats, data thefts, data loss, and other severe mishaps
are just a click away, saying that we're completely secured in terms of
cyber security is just like fooling yourself. Every day we read
articles, news, and features in newspapers, online portals, and other
relevant sites that a bank website was hacked and the attackers flew
away with millions of dollars. Or an actor has been defamed by releasing
her illegitimate pictures that was nothing but just a morph trick. All
these types of news or articles eventually make us worried about the
security and privacy of our online accounts, however, we forget about it
too often.
A potential
malware or spam email carries the ability to infect your entire network
and steal all the personal, financial, and official data from your
online profiles. What can you do? Well, the answer is nothing. Although,
we have extended networks, trained professionals, technologically
advanced gadgets, and full-support from the law of the country, but
still we are not able to control the rising cyber threats. Cyber
security is something that needs to be stressed upon as many of our
day-to-day tasks, processes, transactions, and other important things
rely on an online medium now.
First of all, you need to understand that what cyber security is all about?
Cyber security is nothing but the pre-defined standards that are
formed to command you to practice safe security techniques and
procedures that can minimize the risks of getting attacked by a cyber
criminal. The techniques and procedures are assisted by several
technologies and processes that are specially developed to protect your
PCs, networks, and data. Additionally, these technologies will also
restrict the unauthorized access to your profiles/data, thus, reduces
the chances of vulnerabilities and attacks designed by a cyber criminal.
Cyber crime history and what does it include?
Cyber crime is committed by making active use of computers, digital
devices, and other computing gadgets with an aim to destroy, damage, or
distract the proper functioning of PCs or devices. With the advancement
in digital technology, information age, and gadgets evolution, all the
computing devices come with pre-installed security features that
restrict the unauthorized access to them. Marking remarkable footsteps
in the history of cyber crimes, the first spam email was sent over the
Arpanet in 1978. Past events also provide evidence for the fact that the
first virus was installed, injected, and executed on an Apple computer
in 1982.
As the name suggests, cyber security is all about making a user,
device, online accounts, and other similar records and stuff secure in
the virtual world. Illegal access, illegal interception, system
interference, data loss/ or data interference, misuse of productive
devices, and online frauds are some of the common areas that malware
authors focus upon.
What is the concept and how secure we are?
Cyber crime works on a simple concept, where the computing device is
either a tool or a victim or both. Cyber security is a continuous
process that needs to be strengthened upon in order to make your ideas,
data, profiles, and PC secured and safeguarded from all those dangerous
threats. Installing efficient antivirus software can only restrict the
entry of such threats or infections in your device, however, it is least
related to managing the security of your network or device. An actively
installed antivirus program will not let viruses enter your device,
however, cyber criminals can still adopt various other techniques to
steal data from it.
Various websites use SSL encryption to
showcase that these are
secured and the data entered by a user will remain in the safe hands,
however, there is no confirmation for the same. A lot of malware authors
are capable of creating fake websites with the same appearance and
style that can fool innocent users easily. HTTPS security standard is
another major thing to be observed upon while using any of the website
before entering your personal details. Generally, both of these features
will assure you that you're quite safer than that of the portals with
no extra security feature, however, security shields can be easily
violated by a potential hacker, anytime.
How you can protect yourself from cyber crime?
Escaping from cyber crime isn't that easy, as a hacker can gain
access of all your network, devices, profiles, and other relevant stuff
to keep you trapped. Several recommendations, careful usage, restricting
yourself from accessing infected websites, and downloading from trusted
sources can help you avoid such threats and security issues on your
device.
It is recommended to carefully read the ‘terms and conditions' and
‘Privacy policy' of the website before submitting any of your details
and crucial data.. A website with poor or insufficient security
protection and liberal privacy policy can easily sell your details to
companies that can turn quite risky and dangerous for your personal
life. SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption is the current security layer
technology that many of the websites use in order to ensure that their
registered users remain secure from the attacks of hackers, identity
thieves, cyber criminals and others. You can also disable the remote
connectivity of your device and server to avoid unauthorized access to
ensure maximum security of the user as well as the device.
Having a high-end secured cyber security array would be establishing a
secured layer that can combat and defend against several hacks and
virus attacks. It is very important to update the security factors
regularly to avoid any loophole in the security of your device, network
or server. Ann evasive approach towards managing security layers can
lead you to pay your entire lifetime's possessions to fulfill that loss.
Using an antivirus program, inserting firewalls and pop-up blockers,
uninstalling unnecessary software, maintain backup, and checking
security settings on a regular basis, will help you avoid cyber crimes
at large. Apart from these, you can also emphasize on using a secured
connection, opening email attachments carefully, and using strong
passwords because collectively these can win the entire battle for being
secured online.
The conclusion
Nothing in this virtual world is actually fully secured, however,
latest technologies, equipments, servers, and many other processes are
engaged in offering high-end protection. But several malware authors,
hackers, and online thieves have a better hand on violating the security
codes of such parameters. Hence, the only system that can consider
being entirely safe is the one which is actually switched off and
unplugged. No power access, no apps running, no Internet connection, and
no networking can actually make your system quite safer than others,
but what is the use of it? The only way to be safe is to pay attention
towards minute details and to act smart for no matter what comes up.