Best Ways to Avoid Getting Hurt by Malicious Cheaters
The new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has gained unprecedented influence on different fields of human life, and current technology patterns are no exception.
The practical approval of cloud services, smart sensors, gadgets, smartphones, sensor networks, and digital twins has demonstrated the efficacy of Industry 4.0 information technologies and robotics. It’s worth mentioning that the information and cyberspace are giving high priority to the coronavirus issue, which has inevitably highlighted a wide range of cybersecurity problems with information systems at all levels, from personal to international.
The severity and urgency of the problems were pertinent precisely because of a synergistic effect, mainly determined by two factors:
• A renewed focus on the problem at the level of official media, which, in turn, led to a sharp rise in computer invasions based on social engineering techniques
• Quarantine and isolation measures that maximized up-to-date opportunities for remote work and have altered the established regimes of safe and stable system functioning on the internet
Additionally, there has been an increase in cyberattacks against health organizations, leaking the personal data of subjects under treatment, quarantine, or self-isolation; phishing attacks; financial fraud; and emails containing a malicious links or attachments. Online identity theft has skyrocketed in 2020.
In many respects, we were unprepared for all these changes. Such threats mean that it is critical to ensure the security of remote access to information system resources and infrastructure stability. The question is how can you protect your web privacy? There are a couple of things you need to know. Let’s get straight to business!
1. VPN
VPN is the name of the game. Utilizing the full potential of this innovative solution offers countless benefits. When it comes to privacy, security, and internet availability, nothing compares to a VPN.
If you browse social networks, read important emails, stream or download videos or other content, then a virtual private network will protect you from most threats when using public and private Wi-Fi networks. Today, people are more willing to share personal information online but are more anxious about cybersecurity. It’s no wonder hackers frequently steal personal and financial information.
The cold hard truth is that public authorities and internet service providers readily agreed to track your internet activity. We are not exaggerating; the situation is very difficult. After gathering personal information, they offer targeted ads, reduce internet speed, and sell your data to anyone.
With a VPN, all data your device sends and receives is encrypted, so you can rest assured that your sensitive data will remain hidden from prying eyes. The public bodies, ISPs, and hackers usually get information by intercepting network data. If the data is encrypted, they fail because they do not have access to the encryption key.
While ISPs do their best to limit the internet speed of certain devices to make a profit from users, VPNs aim for unlimited internet access so that users can watch, broadcast, or download content with minimal headaches. Every now and then, providers intentionally slow down the internet speed if users are getting a lot of traffic. When all the traffic is encrypted, ISPs do not know what data is transmitted over the VPN, so they are unable to prohibit something.
The fastest VPN offers amazing speed so nobody can tell a normal internet channel from a VPN. Accordingly, the speed will be fast enough to share sensitive data, as well as broadcast, download, or view content on the worldwide web.
2. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
In contrast to standard identification, where entering a password and a username is enough, two-factor authentication when reading personal technical data involves further details. Simply put, this method allows you to protect your account based on two keys. Additional information includes technical data (phone number, code, key, passport, security token, smart card, USB key, disk) and personal data that only the user knows (a code-word or the answer to a secret question;
Two-factor verification is being used more and more widely and is considered very reliable. It is used by many of the world’s leading companies. If the user shares essential information on the web or stores it in cloud services, this type of protection is a must.
Biggies such as Apple, Twitter, Gmail, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Vkontakte, Yandex, Dropbox, Advcash (e-wallet), cryptocurrency exchanges, and many other sites include privacy-enhanced authentication systems. In some cases, sites require two-factor authentication.
Why do you need two-factor authentication? It allows you to securely to store technical data that is automatically requested by the internet or cloud systems. It is kind a roadblock for hackers. It eliminates password-has-been-compromised situations.
Two-factor authentication allows you to avoid spam attacks when entering personal or technical data even if someone already knows your password or username.
3. Secure Browser
Sorry to destroy your worldview, but your browser knows more about you than you think. Many top browsers collect information about their users’ activity. Collected from search queries, visited websites, read articles, and viewed videos, a digital user’s dossier includes personal data, interests, and even political affinities.
The ultimate goal of collecting all this data is to display relevant ads, news, and other “useful things” for a particular user. Many people are cool with that and even assume that it’s good. However, some do not really like that fact that someone is collecting and storing data about their behavior and habits.
The strong growth of cybercrime, paired with the violation of Internet users’ rights (including the tracking and use of personal data), has “blown the whistle” on online security. In 2020, the question of which browser is the most secure is more relevant than ever. As a tool for working on the internet, its reliability is facing increasing demands.
Brave is Mr. Popular among secure browsers. It is an open-source blockchain browser that prioritizes user privacy and blocks ads and trackers by default. It has end-to-end encryption and a built-in VPN/TOR client, it allows you to work with torrents and magnet links, and it supports decentralized applications. Furthermore, users get paid Basic Attention Tokens (BAT) to watch ads — the browser has an integrated crypto wallet that supports BAT.
The Basic Attention Token is not a no-name token that has topped the list of CoinMarketCap. This cryptocurrency has climbed to 30th place by market capitalization, it’s traded on all major exchanges, such as Binance, and it’s supported by all popular wallets, such as EXODUS. In December 2017, its rate was up to $0.86.
4. Strong Password
According to Keeper, the top-rated personal and business password manager, “987654321,” “qwerty,” “123456789,” and “11111111,” were believed to be the best bet among victims who have been hacked in 2020. Keeper collected the most common passwords and declared that more than 50% of people use them. Suffice it to say, giving one of these passwords a try is an easy way to hack someone’s email account, internet banking account, or cloud storage. There are already programs (bruteforce) that use the iterative method to substitute numbers and hack a five-digit password in a few seconds.
As a matter of importance, the password must consist of at least ten characters and contain letters (uppercase and lowercase), numbers, and punctuation marks. Don’t use spaces or the same character three times in a row. Symbols should not be formed into words or stable expressions (even if they are translated). Try not to use the same password twice or turn to security questions such as “In what town was your high school?”
Remembering complicated passwords is difficult, so use a password manager that will generate and remember them for you.
5. DApps
At present, the cryptocurrency world is rapidly evolving and maturing. In recent years, a huge number of altcoins have flooded the market, facilitated by the rapid advances in blockchain technology. With the groundbreaking technique, decentralized applications came into being. These apps belong to nobody can cannot be closed or stopped. It may have once sounded like a pipe dream, but this is our new reality.
To qualify as a decentralized application, an app must have these characteristics:
• Open-source code available to everyone
• Cryptographic algorithms (alternative to the blockchain)
• Crypto tokens or digital assets
• Algorithm or protocol tokens and a built-in consensus mechanism
The core benefits of this undeniably ingenious invention are the following:
• Decentralization: no censorship from a centralized server
• Privacy: transmitted data is usually encrypted
• Secure transactions: P2P communication
• Participation in the DApp network as the stock owner, developer, miner, bounty tester, etc.
Punch Line
The grand takeaway here? People tend to believe there is a secret formula to protect themselves online, but there isn’t. These common-sense tips can help you stay safe on the web. Good luck!
