On February the 24th, the whole world was shocked and at the same time angered by Russia as the country invaded Ukraine. War brings many losses putting aside the obvious of lives getting lost; it also brings serious economic cost.

The US president didn’t take this rightly, as his country led sanctions on Russia. The sanctions are expected to degrade Russia’s aerospace industry, including their Space program. That won’t happen without Russia retaliating, and many fear it could be a cyberattack from Russia involving ransomware, disinformation, phishing, etc.

This war will not only be targeted to the USA but also experienced by anyone using the internet. To protect yourself in New Zealand, you must use a quality VPN for New Zealand. You will keep your internet activity private and undetectable.

Below are some tips that will help you prepare for cyberattacks during the Russia and Ukraine conflict.

1. Use Strong Passwords

The first line of protection is using a strong password, and it protects you from anyone who is not authorized to access personal information on your computer. The stronger the password, the more protected your personal information is.

It will be hard for hackers and malicious software to bypass a strong password, so use a strong password on all your computer accounts. How can you make a strong password?

Use a mixture of letters, numbers, and symbols. True, you may fear that you will forget the combination but always write down the passwords, especially if you are using different passwords on every account.

Keep the written passwords safe, if possible, on your gadgets like your smartphone. Or use a password manager provided by Microsoft, Google, and Apple. Make sure your password consists of over 12 characters long.

2. Use Only Trusted Wi-Fi

If possible, avoid using public Wi-Fi. You should avoid using public Wi-Fi anywhere in the world because most of them don’t have any encryption. You want to keep your data safe, so if you connect to any Wi-Fi, first make sure it is encrypted. Federal Trade Commission advices to safely use public Wi-Fi.

How can I check if the Wi-Fi is secure or not? First, go to the properties of the network that you are connected. Next to security type, you will see, for example, WPA2, or WEP, which means that the network is secure.

By connecting to an unsafe network, it is easier to get hacked, for the hacker will see what you are doing online. Therefore, risk of giving out valuable information such as login credentials, personal information, data, and financial information.

So, avoid using free unsecured Wi-Fi and always make sure that the device you are connecting to the internet has a running trusted VPN.

3. Update Your Software

Hackers are always looking for loopholes, and the reason many software get updated is to prevent hackers from bypassing the security installed in the software. So, make sure your antivirus software is up-to-date with the current version.

Cyber-criminals always make new viruses every day, and antivirus has to be a step ahead to detect them. So, failure to update the antivirus means you risk losing valuable information.

Sometimes, it’s not easy to remember to update your antivirus software, so why not set it up to update automatically? By doing so, every time there is an update, the software will always be updated automatically. Therefore, preventing hackers from accessing your electronic devices. Also, the software will alert you to any suspicious activity on the websites.

4. Check Your Accounts

To avoid any suspicious activity on a credit card, always keep a regular check. You can take precautions by setting up notifications on your banking app. You will get notification about suspicious activity detected on your account, especially if someone tries to access your account.

Also, set the App to make it known to you for every transaction you make. Therefore, keeping records on the activity of your account.

5. Avoid Giving Out Your Info

Avoid any request of providing your personal information such as your bank account, your names, social security number, and your date of birth. Also, if you happen to be on social media platforms, hide your personal information, you should not share it with anyone. Also check out, cybersecurity in digital transformation era.

Conclusion

Cyber threats are not good, especially when one of the countries that want to bring uncertainty in the safety of the internet is one of the best when it comes to cyber security. So, taking precautions wherever you are is the right thing to do for cyber security affects anyone accessing the internet.