ALL BLOGSPreventing Hacks 101 – Staying Safe on the Internet
Getting your info stolen or your accounts broken into are some of the worst nightmares people have on the internet. While it may not seem easy to protect yourself from hackers, there are a few key things to remember when dealing with others on the internet, especially people you don’t know.
The most effective hacking isn’t done by figuring out people’s passwords or infiltrating their computers in a technical way. It’s actually done way more often and effectively by using social engineering and phishing. Criminals exploit most people’s want to trust others in order to steal funds from them, manipulate them into giving away confidential information such as social security numbers and passwords to accounts, and other malicious online acts.
Now that you’re aware of how most people get their info hacked or stolen, it’s good to remember two key rules. One, the best way to divulge sensitive information (if you must) is to confirm the identity of someone through verbal communication. Once you put sensitive info in writing, it’s way easier for hackers to find and use. Hackers may try to get you to give them your password by directing you to a fake login page for a service you use. that link may come through a phishing email. You should always make sure the site that you’re going to enter your password into is trusted and that the domain is the real domain for that service. a bit of info on that here:
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-fraudulent-domain-names-are-powering-phishing-attacks
Two, you should use unique passwords for all services and accounts, and be extra cautious when sending money or other sensitive data to new accounts. When a digital service’s database gets hacked and those passwords get released to the public, you will be protected if you use different passwords for each service.
A lot of people don’t use unique passwords because they’re difficult to remember, and having multiple passwords makes that even harder. We use Lastpass at Make It All Work to manage all of our account passwords. Password managers such as these can save your login info in a secure way, so you don’t have to write them down or constantly reset account passwords. Check it out here:
