6 Effective Ways To Keep You Safe From Cyber crime

It is not news that cyber-crimes has doubled over the past few years and increasing cyber criminals now rely on your confidential information or account and credit card details to carry out many attacks and internet fraud. These hackers use different kinds of approach and methods to obtain individuals information. And today i have decided to sensitize business owners and individuals on these processes in other to help them and their friends stay safe from hackers.

However you must understand that every electronic device or application connected to the internet can be hacked. Yes! And these hackers are moving closer to us by the seconds. But it’s left for you to make the process either easy or tough for these hackers. Even the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC’s) website was hacked while the presidential election was on.

While there’s no way of knowing if your personal information has been stolen, the safest bet is to assume you’re at risk and take appropriate precautions.

Who is at risk?

Practically everyone might be at risk but you might be in greater risk if you do the following:

*Use your Nickname, family name or family member’s name as Password.
*If your password is a word or a phrase in the dictionary or can be easily guessed.
*If you use one password for all your accounts.
*If you do not change your password regularly.
*If you save your password on your browser or a friends PC.
*If you install malicious software or cracked versions of software in your systems etc..
Here are steps that can provide some protection (See Below):

1. Change passwords

If hackers have access to your passwords and you change them, that limits the damage the criminals can do. So take that preventive step and go into all those online accounts and create new passwords. For those that include sensitive and financial information, it may be wise to reset your passcode every three to six months.

2. Create stronger passwords

Try to create new passwords that are stronger than those they replace – you can do this by using at least 12-20 characters, with a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, along with numbers and symbols. And avoid using words that can be found in a dictionary.

For example, a password like “NiGeriaNCitiZeN#31” is a much better password than “nigeriancitizen31,” Also, avoid easy-to-guess words, like your user name, and don’t use personal information, like your last name or your birthdates. An example of a very strong password is 8u%429rf2r666WU”$?0a (8 uniform % 4 2 9 romeo foxtrot 2 romeo 6 6 6 WHISKEY UNIFORM ” $ ? 0 alpha)

3. Be careful with Email Attachments

Most email services like Gmail and Yahoo have a attachment preview features that enable you to read the contents of an attachment before downloading them you your system, use this tool to be sure your attachment is not a virus or a malicious code. If you are prompted to login to your account to preview an attachment ignore and delete such emails even if they are from people you know.

For example, you can get a mail from someone which has a “contract document” attachment in .html format that links to a Fake Gmail login page that will prompt a login before you can view the document.

Many email accounts both individual and business have given their authentication details to hackers through this means and the result may be devastating.

4. For website Administrators

If you manage website for your organization or for yourself, make sure you Cpanel/FTP login details are strong and use tools like “LastPass” (https://lastpass.com/generatepassword.php) to generate a strong password for all FTP and email accounts.

For websites built with WordPress, Joomla, Drupal etc, never use “Admin and Administrator” or related as username of your backend. Use third-party security plugins to secure your website and install an “SSL security” contact your hosting company or send us an email.

5. Avoid Nulled / Clooned and Cracked applications

Investing in original software might save your business and business partners from attacks by cyber-criminal.

6. Logout

Always log out of your accounts when you’re done using public computers and never save your password on a public systems.