Most homeowners go to whatever steps are necessary in order to keep their residence safe from attack by burglars or criminal-minded individuals. Everyone is aware that they need to close their windows and lock their doors in order to keep their valuables safe, as well as any occupants of the home.

However, when it comes to cyber security, people often behave much differently, and fail to take even the simplest steps to protect their data from attack. In this article we’ll explore some of the factors that may expose you to cyber-attacks like ransomware, phishing, identity theft, and malware. If you should come across anyone whom you suspect is a threat to your general data security, you might be able to find some crime information on them at lookupinmate.org.

System Weaknesses

Whenever a cybercriminal becomes aware of a vulnerability in your system, they will generally take advantage at the earliest possible opportunity. In some cases, they might block a website temporarily, as in a DDoS attack, or carry out a full-blown secure breach to take advantage of your system assets.

Any weaknesses you have in your system are therefore extremely dangerous and can lead to criminal exploitation. There was a case in January of 2020 when the American software developer Solar Winds was subjected to a criminal attack. Cyber attackers took advantage of a weakness in the company’s software after learning about it from details published online by employees. Attackers managed to hijack the administrative credentials of an account holder and thus obtained all administrative rights to the system.

The same group of attackers conducted ransomware attacks later on that literally brought down 22 different cities in the state of Texas. In order to reduce or minimize the threat of attacks like these, it takes a combination of good prevention and swift, appropriate responses. It’s essential to have good security software in place, as well as the appropriate network settings, but it’s also critical to keep software up to date. By installing patches and updates as soon as they’re available, you can close up system vulnerabilities, and prevent such attacks.

Assessing Risks

Criminals are always happy when computer system owners minimize or underestimate the risk of cyber-attacks. The more that people underestimate these attacks, the easier it becomes for cybercriminals to carry out their nefarious ends. Most people tend to underestimate the risk of a cyber-attack, and that’s why they tend to be fairly lax about it.

It’s often hard for people to calculate risk, because we don’t understand all the variables involved. For instance, many people have a terrible fear of flying, but they have no worries whatsoever about driving their vehicles daily. Yet, flying in an airplane is far safer than driving your vehicle, and you are much more likely to be involved in an accident in your vehicle.

This misunderstanding arises because people have the tendency to think that the future will be very similar to the present, and that no attacks will be made in the future because none are ongoing now. Since we fail to calculate the risk of cyber-attacks properly, we tend not to prepare for them like we should.

The best way to reverse this trend is to start practicing good security measures online immediately. Everyone needs to understand the risk of cyberattacks, and to take basic preventive measures in order to keep themselves safe from cybercrime.

Inadequate Security Assistance

Most people simply aren’t aware of even the basic steps necessary to significantly increase the cybersecurity of their system. Even worse, most people don’t really have access to the resources that are necessary when they’re actually required. For instance, the stronger password you have, the more secure any account will be that uses that password.

Believe it or not, as of 2019, there were still 23 million online accounts making use of the password ‘123456’. Almost three-quarters of all accounts currently in existence are protected by passwords that are used on other accounts as well.

This makes it obvious that the way people use passwords has to change. In some cases, when you’re setting up an account, software will prompt you to let you know your password is weak and needs to be better. This should be taken seriously, so you can improve password strength and help prevent access to either personal data or company data. If everyone were to adopt this attitude, there would be far fewer opportunities for cyber criminals.

Source:

1. https://www.cybsafe.com/community/blog/todays-cyber-criminals