It is really amazing when you think about how much data people put on the internet. From credit card information and online shopping to very personal information on social media, and even information as simple as emails between colleagues and conversations in chat rooms like WhatsApp.
Needless to say, there is a lot to worry about these days. Cyber breaches and various attacks that have affected so many people’s financial data and definitely was a big topic during the 2016 U.S. Presidential elections and afterward.
Most people still neglect protecting their online data from hackers and different attacks. It is important to consider an attack from a hacker’s point of view. This way you can actually consider what data would be interesting to hackers and cyber criminals. Just as life circumstances change, your data privacy and cybersecurity priorities may change too.
The question is, who should you be worried about? Here are a few of people you should always be aware of, that may attack your information.
Criminal Hackers: This might be the most obvious and most dangerous group to access your system. They can basically attack any system if they put their mind to it; they can put a virus or ransomware on your computer by simply hacking your social media through posting spam. Normally, criminal hackers are motivated by money and financial reward. Any measures you take against more dedicated criminal hackers will work against any level of hacking. So you should lock your systems up and back up your data to make it difficult to get access to.
Marketers and Legitimate Business: Almost all your personal information is on different sites and is available for various third parties to obtain. Through the use of public records, they know what genre of movie you like to watch on Netflix or what political preferences you have. The reason why this should be a cause for concern, is third parties tracking your every move and personalize different marketing material (spam) depending on what you are doing online. If you are worried about this group collecting and using information, encrypt and defend your identity on different platforms and cookies preferences.
Governments: With all the secret documents and leaks coming out recently, more and more citizens that are becoming skeptical about the U.S. government and its involvement in personal citizen’s life. But if you look at the grand scheme of things, other countries have a much worse track records regarding collecting people’s private data.
It is understood to have some level of anxiety related to these groups but it is knowing how much you are worrying about each group will guide your protection. Some people are using Tor browsers and encrypted communication channels. People’s web histories and searches may require more protection. There are tools that can help protect all of this information. Some of these are straightforward features and others are relatively disruptive in process of protecting you.
There are many ways you can mix cyber self-defense technologies. Using encrypted text and data apps for organizing activities, and turning on basic security layers for personal social media and online activities. Furthermore, if the communication is not especially sensitive they can opt out to take minimal cybersecurity measures. People need to protect their financial data and opt for using virtual private networks and security-enhancing tools when working online with financial information.
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