Nowadays, society watches a lot of data leaks. Many of them reflect our need for more care about the security of our data. But many others are reflections of systems invasions by hackers in companies’ data centers. What could we do about this? Let me explain. 

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Real world and virtual world

When we thought about technology, we forgot that many rules in the real world could be replicated in the virtual world. You never walk alone on a dark street. Why will you visit an unknown website and more? And Why do you put your credit card credentials there? It is a nonsense situation, for sure. But many web users must remember that simple tip: do not trust everybody around you.

However, this is not an article to create panic. You must use the internet for business or entertainment. You need some precautions. For example, use virtual credit cards with specific limits for each online transaction. Many banks and credit card companies have this solution. Second, when you enter a site, observe the URL. Try to check if it is the actual address or if some letter is changed in the URL. Third, never click on a link sent to you by instant messenger or apps like WhatsApp, even if it is someone you sent. The same thing if you received an archive attached in an email. 

But if you did everything to protect your and your family’s data, documents, passwords, emails, addresses, and yet the information was leaked onto the internet? What do you need to do to protect your data? Nothing more because many companies own your data and need to protect it better. Unfortunately, many companies do not create meaningful protections or update their systems to prevent intrusions.

Update your system

And this is very important: updating. You and companies must understand that your data is always at risk without updating the operating system and having an antivirus system. Creating extra layers of protection, strong passwords, and access with apps like Google Authenticator can help prevent leaks for companies and even for yourself.

Specifically for companies to be careful with their data, it is interesting to have more control over the people who handle it; training, awareness, more robust security software, and extra layers of authentication are some solutions.

Be careful what you share

Facing the end user, you should avoid giving too much information about your life on social media as you will provide hackers with too much data. And with this information, they could target you through social engineering. They don’t need to send you malware. They deceive you just by talking. It’s real. Hackers like these make a lot of money from social engineering. Watch!

Finally, you need to pay attention to what you share on your social networks, protect your system, use an antivirus system and demand that companies with your data do even more to protect it.

Image by Wilfried Pohnke from Pixabay