8 Simple Cyber Hygiene Steps to Protect Yourself Online

Did you know, Australians have already more than $33 billion in online scams last year alone. Now Cyber Security is not limited to large corporate organisations. Every year millions of individuals and small businesses get a victim of online crimes and cyber frauds. Many of these cyber-attacks we can prevent by simple cyber hygiene steps.

It?may?seem hard to keep ahead of the latest online threats and know how to deal with them, but there are a few basic steps you can take which will go a long way to protecting yourself online.?

1)????Use Strong Passwords & if possible always Use a PassPhrase

Can't stress this enough. It would be a minutes job for an attacker to break a simple password that contains simple dictionary words and number combinations. Use a passphrase ( A long sentence ) if possible.

• Using the complex mixture of upper case letters, symbols, and numbers. Instead, opt for something more user-friendly but with at least ten characters and a maximum length of 64 characters.
• Don’t use the same password twice.
• The password should contain at least one lowercase letter, one uppercase letter, one number, and four symbols but not the following &%#@_.
• Choose something that is easy to remember and never leave a password hint out in the open or make it publicly available for hackers to see
• Reset your password when you forget it. But, change it once per year as a general refresh.

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2)????Use Two-Factor or Multi-Factor Authentication

Two-factor or multi-factor authentication is a service that adds additional layers of security to the standard password method of online identification. It would be really harder for anyone to crack your account if you have proper two-factor authentication is enabled.

3)?Keep Your Software Up to Date?

One of the most important cyber security tips to mitigate cyber attacks is patching outdated software, both operating systems, and applications. This helps remove critical vulnerabilities that hackers use to access your devices. Here are a few quick tips to get you started:

• Turn on automatic system updates for your device
• Make sure your desktop web browser uses automatic security updates
• Keep your web browser plugins like Flash, Java, etc. updated

4)?Use Anti-Virus Protection & Firewall

Anti-virus (AV) protection software has been the most prevalent solution to prevent malicious attacks. AV software blocks malware and other malicious viruses from entering your device and compromising your data.

Using a firewall is also important when defending your data against malicious attacks. A firewall helps screen out hackers, viruses, and other malicious activity that occurs over the Internet and determines what traffic is allowed to enter your device. Windows and Mac OS X comes with their respective firewalls, aptly named Windows Firewall and Mac Firewall. Your router should also have a firewall built in to prevent attacks on your network.

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5)?Learn about Phishing Scams – be very suspicious of emails, phone calls, and flyers

In a phishing scheme attempt, the attacker poses as someone or something the sender is not to trick the recipient into disclosing credentials, clicking a malicious link, or opening an attachment that infects the user’s system with malware, trojan, or zero-day vulnerability exploit. This often leads to a ransomware attack. In fact, 90% of ransomware attacks originate from phishing attempts.

A few important cyber security tips to remember about phishing schemes include:

• Bottom line – Don’t open emails from people you don’t know
• Know which links are safe and which are not – hover over a link to discover where it directs to
• Be suspicious of the emails sent to you in general – look and see where it came from and if there are grammatical errors

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6)?Use Your Mobile Devices Securely

?The average mobile device is now a target to more than 1.5 million new incidents of mobile malware. Here are some quick tips for mobile device security:

• Create a Difficult Mobile Passcode – Not Your Birthdate or Bank PIN
• Install Apps from Trusted Sources
• Keep Your Device Updated – Hackers Use Vulnerabilities in Unpatched Older Operating Systems
• Don’t open email, SMS URL links from people you don’t know
• Perform regular mobile backups using iCloud or Enabling Backup & Sync from Android

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7)?Don’t Use Financial applications on Public Wi-Fi

Don’t use public Wi-Fi without using a Virtual Private Network (VPN). By?using VPN software, the traffic between your device and the VPN server is encrypted. This means it’s much more difficult for a cybercriminal to obtain access to your data on your device.

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8)?Backup Your Data Regularly

Backing up your data regularly is an overlooked step in personal online security. The top IT and security managers follow a simple rule called the 3-2-1 backup rule. Essentially, you will keep?three?copies of your data on?two?different types of media (local and external hard drive) and?one?copy in an off-site location (cloud storage). If you become a victim of ransomware or malware, the only way to restore your data is to erase your systems and restore with a recently performed backup.

Remember, it’s smart to practice good cyber hygiene habits. If you set up your computer and other devices with antivirus programs, update them regularly, create strong passphrases, and keep everything clean, you’ll be on your way to creating cyber habits that may help keep you safe and secure online.

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