Not a week goes by that you don’t hear about thousands, even millions of accounts getting stolen in data breaches affecting well-known companies. With sights set that high, you’d think that hackers wouldn’t bother with someone who just checks their email and socials from time to time. You’d be sorely mistaken!
But why is that? Why do cybercrooks bother with and profit from small fries like yourself? Read on to learn everything about their reasons and dirty tactics, as well as the best ways to stay safe.
Key Takeaways
- Ordinary internet users stand to lose a lot from cyberattacks, even if they don’t believe so.
- A lack of cyber defenses makes for easy targets, and attackers love those.
- Becoming resilient is straightforward and doesn’t require time or specialized knowledge.
Why Cybersecurity Is Important
There’s a misconception among casual users that what little they do online doesn’t matter much, so no one will bother trying to hack them. And there is a bit of truth to this, unless you’re a high-profile business person, politician, or celebrity, hackers won’t attack you specifically. However, they WILL go after easier targets first. By disregarding even simple cybersecurity precautions, you’re making yourself one.
The notion that you’ve got nothing to lose is also wrong. Your email address, social media, and streaming accounts are valuable enough to be taken over and sold in bulk with millions of others. Plus, you don’t just have to go through the hassle of recovering the accounts or minimizing the damage; you may lose friends’ contact details, important files, and irreplaceable photos.
Beyond the digital
Getting hacked can also have serious real-life consequences. For example, someone may take over your Facebook account and start messaging friends with links to harmful websites. Since they trust you, they’ll click on them and get infected or hacked themselves. Even if you explain what happened, regaining that trust will be an uphill battle.
Worst-case scenario, someone gets a hold of your personal and financial information. Learn how to prevent identity theft, as they might apply for loans and credit cards, or scam people with your name as cover.
What Dangers Should You Be Aware Of?
The dangers you’re likely to face come in two forms. Direct attacks are generally automated and used indiscriminately, but can also require effort in the case of social engineering scams. Indirect consequences result from poor cybersecurity hygiene. The good news is that protecting yourself requires no specialized knowledge and minimal effort. Here are the worst offenders.
Reused passwords
The average person now has to juggle more than 100 passwords for work and personal use. You might not have as many, but chances are that the passwords you do use aren’t safe. Our brains aren’t built to remember dozens of complex letter and number combinations. We cope by using (and often reusing) passwords that are simple to remember. Since cracking them isn’t a challenge, this can put multiple accounts at risk.
Plugging this major security hole is as easy as setting up a password manager. The manager creates and stores as many strong and unique passwords as you need. Install one on all your devices to sync them up and seamlessly access accounts.
Phishing emails
A classic scam that’s only gotten better now that people use AI to write the content. Phishing emails appear to come from important senders, such as your bank, shipping companies, etc. They’ll sound alarmist and claim there’s a problem you need to urgently fix, conveniently providing a link. This link usually takes you to a website where you have to put in your account info, credit card details, or other sensitive data, which then gets stolen.
Phishing emails aren’t too hard to spot if you know what to look for. Just remember not to let yourself be rushed into doing anything, especially if the email was unexpected. There’s always the option to contact the sender through the official channels provided on their website if you’re unsure.
Public Wi-Fi risks
Wi-Fi in airports, cafés, and other everyday venues is so common now that we rarely stop to think before connecting. Its ubiquity and lack of security features make public Wi-Fi an easy and fruitful hacking target. Attackers may monitor what you’re doing or send you to false login portals to steal your login info. They also create fake copies of legitimate networks. Connecting to those gives attackers deeper access, potentially letting them intercept data or infect your device with malware.
You can still use public Wi-Fi safely if you turn on a VPN before connecting. The VPN port will create a protective tunnel around the entire connection, preventing snoops from intercepting your files or seeing what you’re doing online. If the VPN offers a dedicated IP, it adds another layer of consistency and reduces the chance of being flagged or blocked when you connect. Traffic still gets registered, but only you have access to the specifics.
Oversharing
Oversharing online is a sneaky one since it’s an unconscious habit with consequences potentially years in the making. You likely already use at least one social media site under your real name. A post you made a few months ago might mention your workplace; another from last week could show your dog Max in your front yard.
Catch a crook’s interest with a couple more posts like this, and they’ll have enough info to figure out where you live, what your typical schedule is, and what security questions for some of your accounts might be.
It’s best to keep your social media private. Even then, you’ll want to keep a low profile and share sensitive information only with people you know you can trust. At Disquantified.com, we believe that true creativity starts with the heart. And when shared with purpose, it can leave a lasting mark.