Hackers have a lot of tricks in their sleeves to dupe internet users. The two that they mostly use are network scanning and phishing. Network scanning involves a threatening task of scanning many devices on the internet. The ones that are found vulnerable are infected with malware. It doesn’t stop here. The infected system starts scanning more devices to discover more vulnerabilities. In this way hackers are able to use the user systems as the carriers of the malware.
Next in the list of most widespread online security breaching techniques is phishing. Hackers con users and persuade them to click on malicious links that contain trojan horse, ransomware, and many other kinds of dangerous malware. And the rest is public knowledge – malware infected devices are used to steal user identity as well as financial details.
Whether the loss is personal or an entire organization is hacked, the damages are too much. All this, however, doesn’t mean that there are no ways to defend systems from getting hacked. There are many ways that are super effective when applied simultaneously. Some such techniques are as follows.
- Network Segmentation
Instead of storing all the information in one network, isn’t it better to have many isolated networks – entirely independent of each other – with just a single bit of info per network, not all the data at one place? This exact technique is called network segmentation and its many benefits are as follows.
- Hackers cannot breach the security of the entire company at once.
- Only the network that’s hacked can be misused. Since others are independent of the hacked one, remaining bits of information are safe.
- The cybersecurity team gets precious extra time to restrict the circulation of malware; thereby, limiting the damage.
- Router Management
Rebooting the router is very important whether it’s a home router or a router at office.
One of the worst malware that had started circulating not so long ago was the VPNFilter. It did cause a substantial amount of damage. However, it can actually be removed with the help of rebooting. Hence, rebooting and patching the router for vulnerabilities are excellent techniques to protect your devices from online security breaches.
- Password Management
Changing a default password is the first thing that online security experts suggest. But what people miss out is the fact that a new password will be able to protect the device from hackers only if it is strong. In other words, a small weak password is as good as a default password – hackers can crack it in no time.
Hence, following the below listed password tips is important.
- Make it long. Anything less than 12 characters is almost useless.
- Make it difficult to guess. Don’t use your name or your siblings name or any name as a matter of fact to create a password. Instead, pick random words and complicate them.
- Use of symbols, numbers, and letters make a password strong.
- Remember, sharing is not caring when it comes to password protection.
All in all, protecting your devices from hackers is in your own hands. So, be smart and listen to what cybersecurity experts say.
