Cyber and internet security is becoming increasingly important as our world becomes more interconnected and digitalized.
Anybody can fall victim to threats online, which is why services like Fastest VPN Guide are so important. That said, the following easy-to-implement tips should keep you safe once you start.
5 Tips to Boost Your Internet Security
1. Invest in Security Software and Firewalls
Consider antivirus, antispyware, and antispam software and firewalls to be the first line of defense, and each of these software products acts in different ways to make your system’s perimeter more secure and difficult to infiltrate.
a). Antivirus Software
Antivirus software is common and even the free versions can be a useful line of the defense when you are browsing the Internet. Before settling for any antivirus program, it’s important to check if it has resident protection or not. Resident protection detects any virus the moment it is loaded to memory and takes appropriate action. Users who are not tech-savvy benefit greatly from this.
b). Antispyware
Antispyware maybe even more important than antivirus software because of the targeted ways in which spyware works.
Unlike a virus that merely wreaks havoc on your system, spyware steals information from a system and sends to the programmer. It collects sensitive information like credit card details, bank account information, passwords, and so on and sends to the programmer, who can then use this information in whatever way they want.
Again, you want to go for antispyware with resident protection. Browser monitoring is a nice bonus, and you want to keep the automatic updates turned on.
c). Antispam Software
Antispam software is getting increasingly important with the number of spam messages with which Internet browsers get bombarded every day.
A huge number of these spam messages serve as a medium of infiltration for viruses and spyware. Antispam software programs are easy to install and use and, while it may not perform like a rock star at the beginning, its performance will improve in time as it gets used more.
You can download any of the free versions via the web or invest in a paid version and get all the perks.
d). Firewalls
A firewall acts like a moat to your castle and prevents and prevents malicious software or attacks from reaching your computer.
A firewall prevents viruses, worms, Trojan horses, spyware, hackers, hijacker, and other threats from reaching your computer. This does not make it an alternative to antivirus, antispam, and antispyware programs. You still need to install a good firewall even if you have these. Free and paid versions exist, and you should pay attention to any message it displays while activated.
2. Protect Your Data, Not Just Your Entry Points
Many decades ago, protecting your data was not a priority. It was enough to adopt a moat and drawbridge approach, which relied on solely antiviruses, antispam, antispyware, and firewalls to repel breaches.
However, according to Tim Grieveson, chief cyber strategist at Hewlett-Packard, that approach is barely enough. Because businesses, individuals, and organizations are so connected to employers, customers, and suppliers over the Internet, there are potentially hundreds of entry points into your system, and each connected person seems to have a key not only to your system as a whole but other subsystems as well.
In other words, you can assume you will get breached eventually. What you should be concentrating the majority of your efforts on is protecting your data.
According to Jason Hart, chief information officer of Gemalto, CIOs should shift their attention from “breach prevention” to “breach acceptance.”
So, what can you do about the inevitable breach? The answer lies in micro-segmentation, according to Tom Patterson, general manager of Unisys, which is a global security solutions firm for information technology services. Micro-segmentation entails building many little walls around the parts of your business which contain sensitive data. That way, if hackers break in, they only have access to data specific to any segment they break into. A small breach is easier to manage and contain, makes it impossible to take down the entire system.
3. Beware of Threats From Inside
A cyber attack stemming from a breach from the inside of your organization takes at least 70 days to re-mediate — that’s more than two months!
Many businesses spend a lot of resources avoiding attacks from the outside. However, they still remain completely oblivious to the treats that could arise from the inside. An employee, for example, could intentionally or mistakenly breach your entire system and put all your defenses to shame with a single click.
According to Gary Steele, the leader of Proofpoint, which is a secure email specialist firm, employees clicking on email attachments that they believe are from trustworthy sources are the biggest security threats from the inside for organizations.
Many of these employees are simply unwitting pawns to hackers, who engineer information gleaned from social media to come up with emails designed to look like they come from someone familiar. Other more sinister-minded employees may actually be on the payroll of criminals looking to infiltrate your network.
Educating employees properly on insider threats, parituclarly in terms of improving email security, should be a top priority in any cybersecurity program.
4. Know Your Data and Increase Vigilance to Protect It
Knowing your data and which absolutely warrants protection is key to any cybersecurity program. According to Grieveson, companies need to understand the various risks associated with types of data being compromised.
Knowing your data allows you to apply security measures like encryption and authentication to the sensitive parts so that even if it gets stolen, the information is useless to the thieves.
Companies also have to remain vigilant and check the integrity of their system constantly in order to protect the data within. Best practices include keeping all antivirus, antispam, antispyware, and firewall software up-to-date. You should also adopt effective password policies, monitoring of inbound and outbound communications, and encrypting sensitive information.
5. Invest More Resources in Cybersecurity
It all boils down to how sensitive the data involved happens to be. Generally, individuals carry less risk than companies and organizations.
However, the process of securing yourself when accessing the internet and protecting your data is never a one-off. It’s will remain a continuous process so long as hackers keep on thinking up clever ways to infiltrate.
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