Cybercrime
is a growing threat in early 2018. You might think that the only form of
cybercrime you have to worry about is hackers stealing your financial
information. Unfortunately there are far more concerns than just basic
financial ones. When you see the full list of cybercrimes out there, you might
be tempted to stop using the Internet entirely. However, such drastic measures
are not necessary. All you need to do to protect yourself is take some basic
precautions and know who to contact when you see others engaged in criminal
activities online.
What Is Cybercrime?
Cybercrime is any crime that takes
place online or primarily online. That can run the gamut from the
aforementioned identity theft and other security breaches to things like “revenge
porn,” cyber-stalking, harassment, bullying and even child sexual exploitation.
Terrorists are collaborating more on the Internet, moving that most terrifying
of crimes into cyberspace.
How to Protect
Yourself from Cybercrime
There are some basic precautions
everyone using the Internet should take to protect themselves from the gamut of
cybercrimes out there:
1. Use a full-service Internet security
suite to ensure that you are protecting yourself against viruses, as well as
other emerging threats on the Internet.
2. Use strong passwords, don’t repeat
your passwords on different sites and make sure to change your passwords
regularly. A password management application can help you to keep your
passwords locked down.
3. Keep all your software updated. This
is most important with your operating systems and Internet security suites.
Hackers are most likely to use known exploits in your software to gain access
to your system. Patching those exploits makes it far less likely that you’re
going to be a victim.
4. Manage your social media settings to
keep most of your personal and private information locked down. Social
engineering cybercriminals can often get your personal information with just a
few data points, so the less you share with the broader world, the better.
5. Secure your home network with a
strong encryption password as well as a VPN. [aka Virtual Private Network]
will encrypt all traffic leaving your devices until it arrives at its
destination. Even if a hacker manages to get in your communication line, they
won’t intercept anything but encrypted traffic.
6. Talk to your children about
acceptable use of the Internet without shutting down communication channels.
7. Make sure they know that they can
come to you in the event that they’re experiencing any kind of online
harassment, bullying or stalking.
8. Keep up to date on major security
breaches. If you have an account on a site that’s been impacted by a security
breach, find out what the hackers know and change your password immediately.
9. If you believe that you’ve become a
victim of a cybercrime, you need to alert the local police and in some cases
the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission.
10. Even if the crime seems minor this
is important, as you are helping to prevent criminals from taking advantage of
other people in the future.
11. Every person living in the United
States and every American has an obligation to do their part in the fight
against cybercrime.
12. For most people, that just means
following a few simple, common-sense steps to keep you and your family safe, as
well as reporting cybercrimes to the relevant officials at the appropriate
time.
When you do that, you’re pulling your
weight in the war on cybercrime.
As always, stay safe !!
- bird
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