A person’s home is their castle for a reason; who wouldn’t want to protect theirs by all means?
Learn how to seamlessly safeguard your home from recurring digital attacks through these simple tips and tricks.
Before the internet age, criminals had to go to their target’s residence to get whatever they wanted — money or information.
But, as much as the internet made many things easy for the common person, it also made it easier for people to commit crimes; and it’s become increasingly unchallenging for people to commit crimes over the years with the internet’s development into a global phenomenon.
It’s pretty wild to think that today, anyone could, from the comfort of their home, steal information from a residence miles away from theirs. But that’s our reality, and it’s our responsibility to adapt accordingly.
And this is what we’re here to help you with. But before diving into the substance we’re after, let’s briefly look at some preliminaries.
What is Cybersecurity, and why is it important?
Cybersecurity involves protecting yourself against the unauthorized use of your electronic data and protecting your computers, servers, mobile devices, electronic systems, networks, and data from malicious attacks.
Cybersecurity is crucial to any individual’s security detail because it safeguards all data types against theft and loss. We’re talking about sensitive data, protected health information (PHI), personally identifiable information (PII), intellectual property, personal information, data, and government and business information systems; these are all included.
Suppose you have sensitive electronic data you keep at home. In that case, you should be considering efficient ways to protect your home from Cybersecurity attacks, as those are usually the means through which data theft and loss occur.
Now to the nitty-gritty of the post, here are some primarily effective ways to protect your home from a cyber security attack:
Securing your Electronic Devices
Hackers can use entry points in your computers and other devices to access your home router. So, it’s essential to keep your electronic devices secure. Use a strong password for your devices, keep your security software up to date, and allow automatic updates; patches and new releases for operating systems and applications are often issued to plug security weaknesses and protect your devices from hackers.
Also, make sure your devices are protected by comprehensive antivirus software. For example, Kaspersky Total Security protects your devices against hackers, viruses, and malware.
Using a firewall with your home network can also help protect devices on your network. A firewall is a security tool that protects your network from unauthorized access by blocking specific types of traffic. In a home network, a firewall safeguards your wireless router from attacks that could occur over the internet.
They act as a one-way digital barrier by blocking access to your network from random devices on the internet while allowing your devices on your network to connect safely to other devices. Many routers come with built-in network firewalls, so ensure that yours is enabled. If your router does not have one, you can take preventive measures and install a good home firewall solution on your system.
Securing your Home Network
Securing your home network is essential to protecting your digital information from cybersecurity attacks. If you have a WiFi router at home, you should know that this device controls who can connect to your wireless network.
As such, you should consider configuring your network so that if anyone wants to join it, they have to use a password. The password on your router should also be changed from the default admin password to a strong password only you know.
A strong password would be a long password that’s hard to guess and uses a variety of characters, numbers, and letters.
Encryption is also an essential aspect of any Wi-Fi-protected set-up. Most wireless routers have an encryption feature, usually turned off by default. Turning on your home router’s encryption setting can help secure your network.
When devices are connected to your network, you should try as much as possible to be aware of these devices, including baby monitors, gaming consoles, TVs, etc.
Finally, one of the easiest ways to protect your home network is to turn it off when you’re not home. Turning your Wi-Fi off while you’re away reduces the chances of hackers attempting to break into your home network when you’re not at home. As well as reducing security risks, unplugging the router when you’re not there also prevents it from being damaged by power surges.
Securing Digital Accounts
Social media rules the world now, and more than ever, our personal information can be easily accessed on our social media accounts — Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, the likes. But many people fail to realize that this fact gives cybersecurity attackers a new means to steal data once they can hack these accounts.
Besides social media accounts, many other digital accounts we operate from home contain our personal information. These can also be accessed by cybersecurity attackers if given a chance.
As such, it’s often recommended that we use strong passwords for our digital accounts. If possible, use unique passwords for each account you have. If you can’t remember that many, use a password manager app to keep track of them for you.
Also, use two-step or multi-factor authentication whenever possible. This adds a personalized step to logging in, like receiving a text or phone call on your mobile phone.
Finally, if one of your online accounts gets hacked, immediately log in and change its password to a strong, unique password. If you no longer have access, contact the company you created the account with immediately.
Maintaining Regular Backups of your Data
If you have your personal data on your computer, you should always create regular backups for the data. Most times, when a device gets hacked, the only way to recover its data may be from a backup. So having a ready backup protects you from any data loss and allows you to recover from any eventual hack seamlessly.
Not clicking Suspicious Links
While working on your device at home, you’ll find some pop-up links wanting you to click on them. These links might say you need to change or enter a password or may ask you to verify information. These links could also come embedded in emails or claim your information is required because you’ve been a victim of cybercrime.
Such links are most likely phishing schemes designed by hackers to have you reveal your sensitive information – like your passwords or credit card information. Once they have that information, they may try to get you to run malicious software on your computer system or network, also known as malware.
So it helps to stay away from such suspicious links; if you’re not sure about the source of a link, don’t click on it no matter what it says. It’s that simple.
These are the must-dos if you plan to secure your electronic data at home and avoid the dreadful aftermath of cybersecurity attacks — data theft and loss.
These tips have been broken down into basic terms, so you don’t have to be a cybersecurity professional to understand. Still, it helps to have a cybersecurity professional at hand to help you implement these tips, among others that they have knowledge of but you don’t.
If you’re interested in connecting with a cybersecurity professional, look no further than us at Security Pro. We save you the time and energy that goes into researching and discovering who the elite are in the field of cybersecurity. We essentially find the best professionals for you and connect you to them.
If you’d like to get started on that, book a free (yes, free) consultation with us or contact us whenever you’re ready. We’re more than interested in helping you keep your home and personal information safe, but the ball now lies in your court for the time being.