What Hackers Do
While the word hacker didn’t initially start with a negative connotation, it certainly has one now. Originally, it simply referred to someone with the technical expertise to access the most sensitive parts of a computer or network and view the data it contained.
A hacker could be someone who could get into a malfunctioning computer and fix it.
These days, if you mention hacking, most people presume you prefer to someone who specializes in gaining unauthorized access to a network or device and doing bad things with the data they find there. They can read, steal, or even encrypt your data, so you can’t use it anymore.
Don’t think they can perpetrate real damage to your life? Think again. A skilled hacker who can penetrate your device and steal login information to your credit card account could add themselves as an authorized user to your card and max it out in short order. You end up with a colossal headache to resolve, and they get a free pile of cool stuff.
This would be a real-life example of hacking that hurts. Why would you make it easy on these slugs when you can ratchet up your online protection with some reasonably simple actions?
Things You Do That Hackers Love
Who doesn’t love a good round of self-introspection? Maybe you don’t like peeling yourself like an onion to find out what makes you tick. For this exercise, we’ll confine our search to the online stuff you do that makes you a target to hackers. Then you can change it!
Weak Passwords
The chances are that you’re guilty of one or more password violations. Maybe violation is too strong of a term, but you get the idea. Good password habits just seem so dull and time-consuming. Surely it’s not THAT bad of an idea to use the same password on every account you have to log into.
Umm, it IS that bad of an idea. If you think it’s not, refer to our credit card example. Weak passwords are things like “123456,” “abcdefg,” or easily guessed things like your birthday, pet’s name, or any word in the dictionary.
Any hacker worth his salt has cheap software that can be programmed to sit at the front door of any account you have and guess millions of username/password combinations quickly. It’s not even fair.
Your best defense is to create a unique password for each account with the following characteristics:
A hint. Use a password manager to tend to your login life. They’re very good at creating, saving, and regurgitating passwords.
Automatic Updates
Programmers are constantly updating the software and hardware we use to access the internet to stay ahead of hackers. When bugs are found, updates are released, and the problem is solved — unless you have turned off automatic updates. In that case, the hacker has an easy way in.
Old software that has not been updated is a big ‘ol flashing neon sign that says, “I’m an idiot and don’t do updates. Feel free to break and enter at will.”
Suspicious Links
It’s been said correctly that the human element is the most common way that devices and networks get hacked. True story. We are so gullible and love to click on links and believe everything we see online.
Stop that!
The danger of clicking on a suspect link is twofold. It might immediately download and install malware on your computer. You may or may notice it happening. The other option is it takes you to a website loaded with all kinds of nasty surprises by your friendly neighborhood hacker.
The best policy is to never click on an email or website link unless you are double-dang sure it is legit. Everyone is in such a rush to do everything fast online. Hackers rely on this bit of human nature, so just slow yourself down. One simple click of a suspicious link could and has led to infected networks, ransomware, and entire companies going out of business.
Don’t be the employee who stats that chain of events.
Free Wi-Fi
No article purporting to advise you on being secure online can ignore free Wi-Fi. Here’s the deal. Free Wi-Fi in the form of hotspots like down at your favorite coffee shop, the mall, or fast food restaurant are notoriously unsafe to log into.
There are a couple of reasons for this.
First, these kinds of networks are generally not maintained at all. No one takes the time to install proper security, monitor traffic, and take precautions. This leads to reason number two. The lack of security makes free Wi-Fi a haven for hackers.
They can sit there in the coffee shop, sipping a beverage, and wait for the next sucker to log on. It’s easy picking after that. Another common trick is to create a new connection and name it something legit like “Starrbucks.” Someone in a hurry probably won’t notice the extra “r.”
There is nothing easier than stealing data from a person that just logged into your fake internet connection.
