The Internet has revolutionized almost all areas of our lives, from casual everyday activities such as shopping to more advanced as voting. Many essential aspects rely on the internet which makes it necessary to protect all the data we place on it. And protecting it becomes one of the primary headaches for many companies, organizations, and people in general. According to 2018 Cyberthreat Defense report, in 2018, 77% of organizations were victimized by one or more cyber attacks. Fighting these attacks require constant development and acknowledgment which leads companies to invest more and more money into it. However, when it comes to general internet users, it’s difficult to spend a large amount of money to deal with vicious hacker attacks.

People are getting more aware that data protection is critical in order to maintain personal details safe and sound. Especially, with the recent events like Cambridge Analytica scandal and the Facebook data breach which caused exposure of personal information of 50 million users.

Even though there is no way to protect your data completely, you can still take some precautions to increase the security levels of your private information. We recommend six methods to secure your data:

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR DATA

Encrypt your data

Data encryption is one of the most effective and popular ways to secure data, it encrypts information to a different code or form.

Only people who have decryption key can access data and accordingly make changes. Many companies use this process to protect their employees’ emails, devices, and personal information. Nevertheless, it is easy to encrypt your information, modern tools and techniques allow you to secure your online material painless and without much of a fuss.

Backup your data

It takes just a few minutes and yet can save you from losing access to your data or corruption of personal information. For a backup you can use various platforms, however, it is highly recommended to store it in an external hard drive which protects information from being compromised. Note, that if you backup your data online you need to protect it separately, before storing data on the online platforms it is critical to do research about the site and make sure it’s trustworthy.

Install an antivirus software

Installing an effective antivirus software for your devices is crucial to protect them from malware and ransomware. This type of software scans websites and files you download and matches it with signatures of behavioral patterns. An advanced antivirus software can detect malicious attacks against your devices and stop them. Thus, it should be one of the main steps of protecting your data online. Regardless of the operating system you use, antivirus is still necessary to protect devices and data. Antivirus might affect the performance of your devices by slowing them down, however, it is still recommended to install it.

Check sites before registering

Not only do we constantly use the internet, but we also use different online platforms to socialize, manage tasks, shop, communicate, etc. And in most cases, these platforms require your details to register and access them. This is where most of the scams and vicious attacks against your data might happen. As your information becomes vulnerable, it is easy to hack or compromise it. To avoid scams and data violation, always check sites before giving them your personal details. Research if a company is well-known and how long has it been on the market, what are the security policy details and how your information will be stored. These steps are crucial for data protection, be aware and don’t risk your sensitive information.

Don’t connect to unknown WiFi spots

It is one of the easiest ways to expose your data to a dangerous middleman. And we understand, sometimes you need that internet connection, and it’s tempting to try all spots without passwords, however, acknowledge that many of them might be a threat to your information and devices. Thus, it’s better to pay for legit access to trusted sources than lose sensitive personal data. However, if you really need to have a free connection, then beware and don’t expose personal data, e.g. don’t make any bank transactions. Additionally, if you have properly functioning antivirus software it can spot possible threats.

Beware of phishing

Phishing is a common cybercrime, mostly spread by email. In general terms, it works when you receive an email from malicious sources and react to the CTA’s that are inside the email. It was used to be easy to spot as these scams immediately looked suspicious, e.g., the content is full of grammar mistakes and questionable links. Nevertheless, in today’s world scams get more advanced which makes them hard to recognize. For the precautions, if you receive an email and even though it looks trustworthy, check the sender’s email, hold a mouse cursor on call to action fields to see the link behind it. If it seems doubtful, avoid pressing these links and delete the email.

Have common sense

An average person spends around 24 hours per week online, during this time our data, devices and access details are vulnerable to malicious software. And even though, you installed an antivirus, it doesn’t mean that from now on your computer or phone is entirely secure. Antivirus is just one layer of protection, but it won’t do its job if you continuously face pages full of malware. The best way to protect your information and devices from being corrupted is to avoid unknown links, ads, and emails from suspicious sources. If you accidentally visited an infected site or downloaded a malicious file, activate antivirus and scan your device for possible attacks.

The Internet has never been as accessible as it is today, we can instantly get online using different devices, but as it might sound ideal, there is a price to pay. The cost of putting your personal information in danger. To enjoy all the benefits of the internet and avoid violations of your data the first thing to do is protect it and be cautious with your behavior online.

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