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Habits that Will Help You Avoid Being Targeted by Hackers

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Published by:

Abigail Moses

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Reviewed by:

Alistair Vigier

Last Modified: 2024-05-24

Cyberlaw is a growing area of lawyer’s practice. Many business lawyers are starting to provide legal advice on how to deal with being targeted by hackers.

The pandemic caused an increasing number of people, entities, and companies to move to the online environment. This increased the potential number of targets for hackers, and the constant increase in the number of cyberattacks makes this point very valid.

Nowadays, most of the world’s interactions take place online. As a result, hackers have a lot to win if they break down the walls of this environment. 

But how does hacking affect everyday Internet users? The majority of people think that, even if they get hacked, there’s nothing that hackers can steal from them other than traffic data, for example.

Well, that’s not entirely right! When getting hacked, hackers access all the data stored on your computer, including the information saved by your browser

Being Targeted by Hackers

This means hackers can see your credit card information, address, social security numbers and more. They can even approve payments from your bank account with minimal personal data if they get their hands on it. Here are some valuable habits that will keep you on the safe side of the Internet!

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The Use of an Encrypted Network

When you connect to the internet, whether at home or not, your traffic and its history are usually not encrypted. This means that a hacker has only to break your network’s security to have full access to your data as it is.

They must get over an antivirus and probably your computer’s firewall to hack you successfully. This can be easily solved with a straightforward piece of software. 

A virtual private network software encrypts your online connection by changing both your IP and location so that everything you do online cannot be easily seen by hackers. Since such a network makes it look like you’re browsing from another country, hackers will look for your data and personal information in another place. 

A VPN is all you need; it hides browsing data from any third parties, especially hackers. While one can take specific steps to protect one’s home network, public ones are entirely different, and a VPN keeps hackers at bay. 

The Use of Multi-Factor Authentication When Possible

Hackers don’t usually target common individuals specifically. However, they might cause data breaches of certain major platforms and, as a result, gain access to thousands of emails, accounts, and passwords.

Naturally, one of those accounts will likely belong to you. Hackers can then use the accounts to try and connect to every other major platform out there to see if they strike gold.

First and foremost, you should never use the same password for two different platforms. But, if you do, it is strongly recommended that you rely on multi-factor authentication

Multi-factor authentication prevents hackers from using your accounts and data to log in on the platforms that you use. It doesn’t matter if they have the account as long as the authenticator app is out of their hands. Hackers won’t be able to log in even if their Instagram gets hacked unless they somehow gain access to the MFA app.

Overall, different passwords and the use of MFA are usually enough to keep you safe in case of a cyberattack. 

Being targeted by hackers is stressful, so make sure to speak to a business lawyer.

The Regular Patching/Updating of Your System/Apps

As annoying as the Windows Update might be, it often happens just to update its virus definitions/database and also address security issues that can be exploited by hackers.

In short, if you are running the very first version of Windows 10 at the moment, chances are that your computer is already full of malware, adware, or other malicious trackers.

This is why updating software is extremely important. Even the most minor patches can fix your device’s security cracks. Think of patching as the reintroduction into society of someone who skipped out on the Internet and everything media-related for as little as one or two weeks.

In our age, one week can bring massive changes and news on the world scene. The same applies to a computer or device that hasn’t been patched for more than one month.

Being Targeted by Hackers

So – VPNs, multi-factor authentication, and patching. This is everything a device needs to keep its security to top standards and what you need to protect your data and information. 

The best advice when adopting these habits is never to take second chances. Hackers can be ruthless when they set their goals, and believe it or not, something as simple as a private network, additional login code, or a new patch smaller than 1MB can stop their wrongdoings.

After all, the three habits mentioned above are not even time-consuming. They are what the average modern-day Internet user should already be doing!

Being targeted by hackers is stressful, so speak to a lawyer about insurance and how to do proper risk management.

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