While most individuals are aware of the risks of using the internet, the use of the internet is inevitable, as the advantages of using the internet fade out the potential dangers. The cybersecurity skill gap between attackers and prone individuals is significant, causing a potential threat to the use of the internet. There are many ways to reduce this threat and make the use of the internet viable.
Cyber Secure Homes
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Cyber security is one significant risk faced by citizens around the globe. Amidst the global pandemic and frequent lockdowns, most daily work, including wage-work, schooling, banking, and even voting, is on the internet. The daily commute has been reduced globally by 50%. Further studies show that the number of individuals prone to cyber-attacks has drastically increased during the pandemic. According to a report by Akamai, cyber-attacks on individuals have increased by more than three times due to excessive internet utilization and inadequate information relating to the safety of the same.
Safe and viable internet use will prevent data breaches and data loss via viruses. However, safety on the internet may appear to be complicated, making it unviable for the busy youth. Learn about the IP address that every routers have via routerlogin.mobi and control the settings of your routers to secure it. Hence, individuals should be informed about risks and dangers faced while accessing the net and how to deal with them from a young age. There are five viable tips shared that will make the internet safe!
TIP 1- Configure WIFI settings
A user can access the internet if they have a connection from an Internet Service Provider. There can be two types of internet connection:
- A shared connection (in the form of the router)
- A personal connection (in the form of mobile data)
These connections come with default settings from the internet service provider (ISP) and may not be set to the optimal settings to provide adequate protection against threats. For example, the internet connection may have disabled or older forms of security such as WEP, which makes the network unsafe and prone to online threats and data breaches. Always configure the WIFI security settings to WPA-3 or AES 256. This can be quickly done under the wifi router settings by going to the website https://router-network.com/.
Even if the hacker gets the wifi password, it’s nearly impossible to track the other users on the network, making this network safe for people uninformed about data preaches (including but not limited to: kids and old aged individuals). This makes the connection impenetrable, even by using brute force, protecting the users on the respective network. This even prevents massive data breaches and encrypts the searched data in a 256 bits format, which the reader can only interpret (in this case, the website).
TIP 2: DON’T ACCEPT UNNECESSARY COOKIES
Cookies are files saved on a local computer that accessed a website. They contain preferences, like language, nationality, and standard information, so that the data need not be re-entered every time a website is reopened. While cookies have a significant advantage for both the website and the user, misuse of cookies against the users can potentially lead to data breaches.
Traditionally, cookies used to be stored on computers. Still, as the cookies grew, developers decided to save the cookie in the website itself and provide the user with a unique identity (in a barcode), which could then be interpreted every time the website was opened.
However, data breaches in websites (servers in which the data of the website is stored) could reveal user cookies, leading to personal data preaches. This technique of hacking servers to attain user data via cookies is commonly known as cookie scraping.
While it is hard for cookie scraping on large websites (due to server encryptions), smaller websites threaten cookie scraping. Tracking and fraudulent websites can even use cookies against users and leak private data. Hence, you should not accept cookies from unknown websites and use secure browsers (like brave), which prevent cookies and trackers
TIP 3: NEVER USE NON-HTTP SECURED WEBSITES
HTTPS is commonly known as HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure. It prevents trackers from tracking the interaction between the user and the website by encrypting it. Most websites today use HTTPS. However, a few websites do not use this safety protocol. These websites may be potentially harmful, even if they don’t pose a direct threat. Modern trackers can download without the press of any link/ key if a website is not secured with HTTPS. This technique is known as drive-by downloading.
Many users are confused between HTTP and HTTPS. HTTP helps establish a connection in text-based format with a website, which can be easily tracked. HTTPS contains data in an encrypted form, which cannot be interpreted. Hence, using HTTPS websites will reduce the risk of data preaches while online information is transmitted and exchanged.
TIP 4: USE ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARES AND FIREWALLS
Most phones, laptops, and computers come with pre-loaded antivirus software in today’s world. However, this software may not be enabled or may require an extra fee for functioning. Downloading free antivirus software may be ineffective as they may not get regular updates or stop working altogether. In windows, there is a free windows defender installed as antivirus software.
Make sure to enable and regularly update this software. In android, make sure to allow the antivirus software that comes pre-installed with the phone (it can vary depending on the brand). In iOS (both iPhone and MacBook), Xprotect is the major antivirus software. You can establish a firewall from the security settings in a particular device.
However, most modern devices already have a pre-installed firewall set up. Keeping a strong password for your device(s) will also significantly reduce the susceptibility of individuals to online threats.
TIP 5: USE VPN PROXY NETWORK
VPN is virtual private network, is an online facility that facilitates the temporary change of IP address to be less prone to being IP-tracked. In this process, many devices can connect to a server, which appears to have different IP addresses for the user. This makes tracking individuals using VPN virtually impossible (as long as the VPN cannot be tracked down). This adds a layer of safety while browsing the internet and reduces susceptibility being tracked on the unavailability of a secured HTTPS website. The use of these VPN services has increased over time.
However, a person should not use any VPN on the internet, as a VPN is the node between the individual and the website. Only a trusted VPN should be used (3). Furthermore, it should be ensured that the VPN is equipped with an adequate firewall to avoid massive data breaches via server hacking
