5 Easy Steps to Up Your Cyber Security

In today's society, the digital world influences so much of our lives. Because of the digitization of society, so much of our personal and business information is on the Internet. This fact has opened up new doors and opportunities for people to connect and interact with others and businesses in ways that were unimaginable before. That being said, this explosion of the Internet has brought new ways for your valuable information to be stolen. This is primarily done by hackers, who use a variety of attacks to try to steal information from people. Thankfully, there are ways to help secure yourself against these assaults. Below is a list of 5 ways to ensure your cyber security.

Strong Passwords

According to this Entrepreneur article, one of the ways that you can ensure your security on the Internet is by creating strong passwords. A strong password can be a great defense for keeping hackers out of your important online accounts. The article gives a suggestion for making your passwords stronger, which is combining a mix of capital and lower case letters, as well as numbers and symbols. It also advises that your password should be between 8-12 characters in length.

Establish a Firewall

This piece of cyber security advice comes from the same article linked above. According to the article, a firewall essentially controls the Internet traffic that comes into your network. Thus, it can keep hackers and their attacks out, while keeping you and your information safe. According to the article, a firewall is a necessity, so consider establishing one for your home computer or business. Another option that should be considered that is similar to a firewall is mdr services, which leverage artificial intelligence against any attacks on your device.

Be Aware of the Types of Attacks

Unfortunately, hackers have become rather clever in how they try to hack into computers and systems. One such way, according to Roger A. Grimes' article in CSO, is called socially engineered malware. Essentially what happens in this attack is that hackers run a Trojan horse program through a website you trust. The program asks to be downloaded. Once this is done, the Trojan program now has access to your computer. This is only one type of attack though, and there are many. Simply being aware of how hackers try to trick you into giving their programs access into your computer can go a long way in helping to prevent it.

Update Devices

This important tip comes from Mike Kappel's article on Forbes. It is important to make sure that you update the Operating System or software on your devices if an update becomes available from the developer. This is because oftentimes these updates will contain "patches". These patches help shore up the security of your operating system or software if there was a weakness found by the developers. The idea here is to make sure that your operating system and software are up-to-date and ready for any attack.

Backup Your Information

This piece of advice also comes from Kappel's article. In essence, this tip is if all else has failed and what you have tried to prevent has happened: you got hacked. Despite your best intentions and the layers of protection you set up, there is still a possibility that you could get hacked. Because this possibility exists, it is good to prepare for it. One great way to make sure that not all your information is lost should a hack occur is by backing up your information. You can download all your vital info on to an external hard drive. This can help make sure that you at least get to keep a copy of your information.

Overall, technology has brought us many great innovations. It connects society in ways that were unimaginable merely decades earlier. Unfortunately, the Internet explosion has also given rise to hacking. That being said, hopefully by implementing the list above, you can help secure your devices against cyber attacks.