Hello friends, welcome back to HkGoodKh. Hope you like our articles. We try best to give user-friendly content to our readers. Please do comment by filling out the comment box below. Your feedback would motivate us to keep creating good articles. Friends, today we are going to discuss more methods to strengthen your online security against cyber-criminals.
Friends, in our previous article, we provided 5 ways by which you can create a shield against hackers. If you want to know more about them, you can read here.
As you know, hackers want your important information like login Id, password, personal details, credit card details, bank information and others by hook or crook. For this, they use sophisticated techniques such as installing malicious content on a user computer, sending spam messages, luring the user to click on phishing sites and many more.
If we ask - would you provide your sensitive information to anyone willingly? Definitely NO. Hackers also know this. So, they devise clever methods to trap the user in passing out their sensitive information to them. So, we have to be on our toes.
Friends, today we are going to discuss these clever techniques adopted by the hacker.
Let's get started.
Phishing
You must have heard about this trap. Call it deceiving or cheating, the fact is it is an extremely clever and sophisticated technique. It is like a wolf wearing the mask of a sheep. The hacker makes extensive use of this to steal the private information of the user.
Let’s explain this with the help of an example. Suppose you receive a mail from a reputed site like Amazon.
- The mail says that the user has ordered an item from Amazon.
- It contains a billing address which do not belong to the user.
- Now, when the user hovers the mouse over the link displaying Amazon, he finds the actual URL to be different. You get the feeling of something suspicious.
Right! Well, this is the classic example of a Phishing Site.
Of course, many users become perplexed by such emails. They cannot decide if it is real or not.
So, keep these tips in mind and you will be safe.
- The first thing you should do is NOT TO CLICK ANY LINKS contained in that mail.
- Secondly, MANUALLY ENTER THE SITE URL in the address box. So, in the above case, if the user wants to go to Amazon, he should type www.amazon.com into the address bar of the web browser.
- You should hover your mouse over the links. By doing this, you get information about the true URL of the link.
- The next course of action is to immediately DELETE SUCH EMAILS. Also, do not forward such emails to others.
Friends, you cannot easily block or stop Phishing emails. So, the best security measure is to immediately identify and delete from your inbox when it arrives.
Note friends, if you click on the link, it redirects to an untrusted phishing site.
Then, you may be trapped to enter your login id or other private data. Thus, you might accidentally pass on all your secret information to the hackers.
Hope friends, from now onward, you would think twice before clicking on any link in the mail.
Spam
Over the years, this has also become a favorite tool for cyber-criminals to steal personal details of the users.
What exactly is spam? Well, it is a form of advertising related to commercial purposes. The sender does this to gain monetary benefits. If bulk recipients buy the advertised product, the spammer makes lots of money in a very short time. This only motivates the spammers. They would continue to send spams.
Spammers use publicly accessible sources to gain information about recipient address. They also make use of dictionaries as well as different software programs to gain an insight into an address. Spammers also use sophisticated ways to conceal the location of their spams to avoid law breaching.
Well friends, today more and more spammers are using virus-infected computers to send spams. These computers known as “ZOMBIES” or “DRONES”, are used to generate bulk spam messages. Zombies mask themselves such that the user thinks the messages to be coming from legal addresses.
Friends, let us discuss the consequences of spamming.
- Well, spammers have used spamming for forgery of various email services. By using different domain names and hiding location, they confuse the email administrator.
- The second consequence is - the real address or email account of the user may be hijacked. The user may get a false mail pretending to be from the trusted site such as “Hotmail”. It might state - the user account is closed and requires some action on part of the user to reopen it.
Now the question is what we can do on our part?
- First of all, we all must install a good “ ANTIVIRUS ”. This step avoids our computer from turning into “ZOMBIES”.
- Secondly, false emails should be either completely ignored or deleted because spammers often attach virus in them.
- Thirdly, every user must USE A STRONG PASSWORD which should contain a mix of characters, letters, and numbers.
- Fourthly, we tell you to set up 2 FACTOR AUTHENTICATION for all the accounts.
Do Not Use the Same Password For All Accounts
You heard it right. It is like using the same key for all your boxes. The hacker steals that single key and your valuables kept in all the boxes are gone. Feeling sad!
So, to be secure, do not use the same password on all your accounts.
Do Not Share Your Login Information With Anyone
Friends, like it or not but to be on safe side never share your login information with anyone whether friend, girlfriend or relative.
Take Precaution While Installing Browser Extensions
Yes, friends, hackers are adept at creating fake versions of popular browser add-ons. Follow the best precautions while installing them.
Friends, in this article we have compiled 5 excellent methods to protect your online privacy.
Hope you like it. If you want to know more on online security, read here. Tell us what you think about these tips. Do let us know by filling out the comment box.
