Protect yourself online

Our cyber world is growing day by day. Our life is becoming easier and comfortable. But on the other side cyber crimes are increasing at very high rate which is really shocking. Thus let us stay safe from such attacks by taking some necessary and simple safety measures.

TYPES OF CYBER ATTACKS

• COMPROMISED ACCOUNTS – where an e-mail or online bank account has been taken over by hackers
• E-MAIL ABUSE – Sending spam (massive amounts of unsolicited e-mail), offensive or fake e-mail, and e-mails that propagate malicious (malware) codes
• COMPROMISED WEBSITE - Defacement or phishing

HOW TO AVOID E-CRIME

• Don’t scrimp on computer security. Use anti-virus software, keep it up to date and use spam filters
• Update security patches, operating system and web browser; Use a personal firewall
• Use a mix of letters and numbers for your password and change them often.
• Don’t use words from the dictionary
• Do not open or click on any unknown e-mail attachment; never click on hyperlinks within e-mails. Instead, copy and paste them into your browser
• Always look for “https://” and padlock on web sites that require personal information
• Keep your computer clean from spyware
• Educate yourself of fraudulent activity on the internet
• Check and monitor your credit/bank report
• Seek Advice - if you are unsure, talk to a computer security company like Symantec, Trend Micro, Sophos, Kaspersky, McAfee, etc.

GLOSSARY

• Spam – Unsolicited e-mails, sent in batches of 10,000s or 100,000s, using spamming tools available on the web.
• Phishing – Criminally fraudulent process of attempting to obtain sensitive information such as user names, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.
• Malware – Malicious computer program or code written to steal user information and passwords.
• Trojan – Malware that automatically download themselves (when launching infected web pages or opening spam e-mails) allowing hackers to take control of victim computers to launch attacks on other computers or networks.
• “Smishing” or “vishing” – Fraudulent SMS message sent to your cellphone or automated voice response call to your cellphone/landline phone saying there’s a problem with your bank account. You’re given a phone number to call or a website to log into and asked to provide personal identifiable information—like a bank account number, PIN, or credit card number—to fix the problem.

Blog4Info wishes you a very safe and happy cyber life.