Cybersecurity attack: 5 things you can do right now to protect yourself
Cybersecurity attack against U.S. government
When a top cybersecurity firm is hacked:What is the takeaway for the average netizen?
But, he said, the risk doesn’t end there.
“The fact that the root of this incident includes the compromise of some core security tools themselves, however, does open the potential for future uses of this exploit,” he said.
The good news: There are immediate steps that you can take to make your personal information more secure.
Danuloff offered five tips on how to make your information less vulnerable to hackers.
- Do not re-use passwords on any important accounts. “That way if the password list from Company A is stolen, hackers cannot use that list to get into your account at Company B,” he said.
- Use two-factor authentication wherever possible, especially on important accounts.
- Choose platforms that use end-to-end encryption for your data. “Files or photos sitting in cloud storage can be stolen,” he said. “If they’re in a database that has no keys or just one master key, all of your personal data has a much higher likelihood of being stolen, accessed, and maybe even shared publicly.”
- Don’t give up your data to every site that asks for it. “Data that isn’t there can’t be stolen,” Danuloff said. All kinds of services ask for your address, phone number, even your Social Security number. “The vast majority of them don’t need it,” he said. So give them “alternative facts.” Use burner email accounts.
- Use a personal monitoring service that informs you when your data has been stolen in a hack or when there are signs of identity theft. These are useful tools, he said, “to stay ahead of potentially costly or complicated problems.”
Article source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~/640475938/0/usatoday-techtopstories~Cybersecurity-attack-things-you-can-do-right-now-to-protect-yourself/