Cybercriminals have upped their game over recent years – perhaps helped by the increased amount of people staying at home and relying on technology during the coronavirus pandemic – to the point at which you may not be able to differentiate a scam email from a genuine one, and it can seem like only a matter of time before your device and network is targeted by dangerous malware. Fortunately, there are several steps for you to put in place to ensure that you remain as well-protected as possible when online. Here is a guide to data security online.
Source code security
It is vital to secure your codebase from infiltration by cybercriminals. If accessed by malware, this can lead to corrupted and lost code, which could have massive repercussions on your business’s data integrity. Source code security works by continuously scanning and monitoring known and unknown assets to stop data breaches before they can occur. This helps to mitigate secret leaks caused by human error and bad credentials hygiene that could otherwise prove to be extremely costly mistakes. It also maps and monitors your blindspots, providing you with the results in insightful reports to enable you to drive organizational security change.
Detect phishing emails
Over recent months, phishing emails have seemingly become increasingly more sophisticated, to the point at which you may at first glance struggle to differentiate a bogus email from a genuine one. However, with phishing being the most common cyber attack in the world, it is important that you take a step back to analyze the situation before immediately clicking on any links or replying. Firstly, check if the sender’s email address is correct. If it appears wrong or suspicious, it could be a case of spoofing, and the email should be ignored and deleted. Don’t click on any links and attachments under any circumstances: these files hide threats such as ransomware, trojans, and viruses that could wreak havoc on your system.
Keep your anti-virus updated
Anti-virus software is your computer’s first line of defense against a range of cyber attacks, from malware to trojan horse programs. However, it’s all too easy to let your subscription lapse and instead rely on the in-built anti-virus included in your computer. However, this simply does not compare to dedicated anti-virus software programs, which are regularly updated to combat the ever-growing roster of online threats. Therefore, you must keep your anti-virus subscription updated to ensure that your device remains well-protected from malware.
Use a VPN when using unsecured networks
Free wi-fi is increasingly available in most public places; however, these unsecured networks are huge hunting grounds for cybercriminals. Protect your data by using a VPN (a virtual private network) when accessing an unsecured public network. Put simply, the very best vpns out there will provide an unparalleled level of protection so that you can use unsecured networks safely. This sends all your data traffic through an encrypted virtual tunnel to establish a secure connection between your device and the internet so that you can browse safely without the risk of your data and search patterns being monitored and manipulated by hackers and cybercriminals.
