The UAE Cybersecurity Council has reported that cyberattacks and hacking attacks on individuals and governments will be at an all-time high this New Years.
They recommend that everyone "activate their cyber defense systems and raise the security awareness of individuals about cyberattacks."
To make sure everyone has a safe New Years, especially since this year more are using digital devices and services than ever, we have compiled three ways to harden your internet security to thwart hackers and keep your payment information and passwords secure.
Method One: Use a VPN To Browse The Internet
It may come as a surprise to many that internet traffic is not secure. In fact, even password-protected internet traffic can be easily hacked, and hackers can then use technologies such as packet-sniffing and internet service rerouting to steal your passwords, bank account numbers, and even hack into your computer.
Using a good VPN encrypts your internet traffic, making it difficult for a hacker to steal your passwords and hack into your computer through your internet connection.
Normally, even on password-protected networks, your internet traffic is not encrypted. This means anyone can gain access to it with products available to anyone with a laptop. In fact, many programs can easily crack a wifi password and allow the hacker easy access to your router, where he can change the settings and reroute all the traffic to his own personal server where he stores everything.
But a VPN protects your traffic by encrypting it, making it nearly-impossible for a hacker to steal your private passwords and financial information.
Of all VPNs we recommend hide.me VPN. Unlike NordVPN, which was hacked in 2018, and ExpressVPN, which is owned by a company that is required to hand over their records of you over to the 5 eyes (an intelligence partnership between the U.S., U.K. and other intelligence communities), Hide.Me VPN is based in Malaysia, a country that has no internet disclosure laws and also does not have any agreements with the 5, 9, or 14 eyes. In other words, your account information stays with them.
Moreover, Hide.Me's VPN does not keep any logs. They accomplished this by custom-building their servers to remove all the logging requirements and tracking technology, so the result is completely anonymous web browsing behind military-grade AES-256 bit encryption. Now that's some secure internet.
Method Two: Use A Tracking Disabler To Disable Tracking Cookies And Other Tracking Technologies
While having a secure internet connection is a great defense against hackers, companies such as Facebook have invented tracking software that tracks your internet search traffic and behavior even after you log off Facebook. This means they know what you bought, when you bought it, and what websites you visited. Facebook also admitted all 2 billion of its users were compromised by tracking technology.
One great internet privacy solution is Ironvest from Apine. Not only do they block trackers, but they also provide fake emails, usernames, and passwords completely for free, so companies don't even get your real emails and passwords.
One word of caution, because of the nature of Ironvest's usage, your payment information could be stored in their system inadvertently. So it is best to access banking institutions and any sort of payment platform with the extension turned off for security purposes. This is a potential flaw with all internet traffic extensions in general.
But Ironvest is great for giving out fake emails and passwords to keep yourself anonymous on the internet and thwart hackers from getting to your REAL private information through phishing scams and tracking technology.
Method Three: Get A Great Total Security Program
While the above options make it significantly more difficult for a hacker to break in, it is still necessary to have a great total security program to keep hackers from using other functions on your computer to let them in.
In addition to phishing scams, which no internet security company can completely block, a total security program prevents a hacker from doing anything if they get in through other means (such as bluetooth connectivity, a download of a program, or visiting a bad link). While practicing safe browsing habits can significantly reduce the likelihood of downloading programs that allow a hacker to ransack your computer, hacking techniques are getting increasingly more sophisticated. So a total security program is a necessary part of overall cybersecurity.
The only security software that gave the CIA problems was Comodo Internet Security. According to the WikiLeaks files, Comodo was a "colossal pain in the posterior" for the CIA hacker whose job it was to find vulnerabilities in antivirus programs so the CIA could hack their systems. If the CIA had difficulty getting around Comodo, what chance does the coffeeshop hacker have?
Using these three methods will ensure your private data stays private. However, it is still good to practice safe browsing tactics when using the internet. You may be able to keep the hacker from hacking into your traffic from the outside, but if you click on a link from the inside, you are basically unlocking the door ant letting him walk right in. Make sure you do not click on or purchase things from unrecognized websites. While this will not stop a hacker from hacking into your internet connection (which is why we think hide.me VPN is absolutely necessary), it WILL stop them from stealing your data and planting spyware on your computer without your consent or knowledge.
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