With digitalization, the threat of cybercrime has gone up significantly. Here are some cybercrime examples and how to minimize and eliminate the threat.
Cybercrime Protection and Prevention Simplified
The pandemic has sped up the transition from the physical to the digital world. Many businesses who, pre-pandemic, weren’t keen on making the leap have been forced to establish an online presence to keep their businesses afloat, regardless of whether they’re offering goods or services.
With all the digitalization going on, the threat of cybercrime has gone up significantly as folks opt to trade in privacy for convenience. This means that crucial information is thrown around online, and if one is not careful with what they share, they can be the next cybercrime victim.
Here are some cybercrime examples and how you can minimize and even eliminate the threat.
Types of Cybercrime and How to Deal with Them
1. Phishing : Perhaps the most famous and notorious of all cybercrimes, phishing takes the top spot on our list. Phishing pretty much mimics legitimate messages from people or businesses you trust and tricks you into disclosing highly confidential information or clicking on malicious links.
What to do: The best way to protect yourself from phishing attacks is to stop trusting everything that goes into your email. Increase your awareness and educate yourself about these attacks, so you know how to tell the difference between a legitimate message from a bad one.
2. Ransomware :Ransomware is just an extortion that has evolved. Cybercriminals gain access to a company’s data and hold it hostage for a ransom. If a company has no data backup of what the online hostage-takers have, then the company is at their mercy.
What to do: The best way to protect yourself from digital hijacks is to back-up your data and then do it again at an entirely different location. This gives you insurance that should anything untoward happen, you have all the necessary data you need to keep your operations going.
3. Malware: Malicious software, or malware, is specifically designed to access a computer system and damage it from the inside. Think of it as a virtual Trojan Horse that you let into your system only for it to fry everything you have or hold it hostage when you least expect it.
What to do: So how do you defend your computer and system from it? Be wary of emails that you receive, and don’t carelessly click on any attached links. Avoid visiting suspicious websites (you’ll know by their spelling, so be very vigilant with this). And lastly, make sure to install a trusted anti-virus program and regularly update it.
4. IoT Hacking:The Internet of Things, or IoT, has become such a source of great convenience to us all. From managing our homes to doing our business, the IoT has proven to be one of modern technology’s best assets. However, you should also consider that the inter-connectivity that goes with it means continually collecting and exchanging data. Hackers see any valuable data and can easily access any one of them to gain greater access to even more personal data.
What to do: Protect yourself from this by having different passwords for different devices. It may be quite daunting to come up with and remember several different passwords, but this helps ensure that hackers do not gain access to all of your devices. Whether you come up with your own passwords or use a password generator, make sure you list them all down and hide them in a secure location.
5. Identity Theft:Cybercriminals are a sneaky and determined lot. They are creative and can develop new ways to acquire essential data that they can use for their benefit, including your personal information like social security numbers and bank and credit card accounts. Once they have access to this crucial information, they can easily pretend to be you and make unauthorized transactions using all the information they have on hand.
What to do: Closely keep an eye on all your accounts. If you detect any suspicious activity, immediately get in touch with proper authorities and notify them about it. Taking a proactive stance and not wasting any time can help prevent cybercriminals from doing more significant damage.
6.Website Spoofing: The name pretty much says it all. Cybercriminals use website spoofing to trick people into believing it is a legitimate website. They do this to gain your trust and have you put your guards down so they can easily access your system and vital information to gain access to your accounts.
What to do: if you’re not really expecting anything important from any legitimate company or website, you should ignore and delete any messages with malicious and highly-suspicious links.
In a world gone digital, it’s vital to protect any information that could potentially expose you to cybercriminals’ devious ploys.
