Going online opens you to a world without boundaries, where the good is tainted and the bad is decorated. We all have a digital avatar, which comprises social presence, email accounts, blogs and websites. Just like the real world where mafias, thugs, and gangs rule the streets, cyber criminals dominate the online world with much secrecy. These criminals, known as hackers, use illegal means to acquire usernames and passwords from websites where we have our online accounts.
With advancements in technology, we have shifted online for almost everything. Now, people have the ability to shop, bank, pay bills, connect, and do other things online. This presents opportunities for hackers to get access to your most intricate data – personal and financial information. Hackers live amongst us and are spread out across countries. Hackers living outside the US are rather difficult to catch or stop as they use modern sophisticated technology to bypass law enforcement agencies, giving them the ability to steal data without being detected.
The shocking part is, if you’re hacked online, you may never find out about it. If you keep receiving shady emails and notice suspicious activity when you’re online, it may be a sign that you are hacked. In an event when this happens, contact your friends and family to notify them about the hack to give them a heads up. Moreover, change passwords immediately.
Here are some ways you can protect yourself against hackers:
- Know Your Online Activity – If you’re getting spam and suspicious emails, don’t open them and just delete them right away. Try your best to access online accounts from your computer only.
- Enhance your computer security – Make sure you download an antivirus and update it frequently.
- Update Passwords – Several studies have revealed that updating passwords frequently reduces the chances of hacking. Keep passwords that are strong and unpredictable.
- Use a VPN – A Virtual Private Network such as PureVPN is essentially designed to make your online presence anonymous by dedicating you an IP from its server base located in a different country. PureVPN employs 256-bit military-grade encryption to encrypt your data, making it inaccessible for hackers.
