Published on August 7th, 2020 | by Sumit Bhowal

Cybersecurity: How Secure Should You Be Online?

The internet is a wonderful development of technology given to the world over the years. It brings people together, offers a multitude of different ways people can connect and share their interests, and provides a nearly endless wealth of knowledge, media, and activities. Over the course of the internet’s existence, both its number of users and its number of great developments have increased. However, with the abundance of new users, new media, and new features, comes new ways for the internet to be dangerous for those not properly protected. You may feel the need to give yourself the utmost protection, but how protected should you be online? If you own a company, making sure your IT team receives secure code training is essential to keep your business protected online. This article will answer that question, as well as go over the basics of cybersecurity and the complexity of cyberattacks.

The Basics of Cybersecurity

Firstly, what is cybersecurity? It is a blanket term that covers the many ways in which you can protect your devices, identity, and data online. Essentially, it is the protection of your data and can come in many different forms. These forms include but are not limited to firewalls, anti-malware software, and virtual private networks (VPN). They are different ways that you can keep your data and online presence safe against cybercrime, which is the term for all kinds of attacks that can compromise your device and data. The threat of cybercrime is immense, and just as ways of protecting against it have gotten more prevalent and sophisticated, the cyberattacks themselves are equally complex.

Understanding Cyberattacks

To keep yourself properly protected, it is important to understand the lengths that cybercrime and various attacks can go. Cybercrime as a term covers a wide variety of crimes that target your internet-capable devices and your private information. These attacks include viruses, malware, security breaches, identity theft, and the invasion of your privacy online. Specific forms of viruses also include Trojan horses and worms, which are also individual threats in their own right that require specific treatment. Certain anti-virus software can protect you against some of these virus attacks but not all, which might lead you to layering different forms of protection.

Layering Protection

While one type of security may seem like enough to protect you, the truth is that cyberattacks have gotten sophisticated to the point that they can bypass individual levels of protection. As stated, many methods of protection exist, such as encrypting your data, using anti-virus protection, and private networks to hide your IP address and keep yourself hidden from potential attacks.

Since there are multiple ways for potential hackers to intercept your personal information, so too are there multiple ways for you to protect that information, and one may not be enough. By using multiple different programs, software, and other methods to protect yourself, you are building a defensive barrier that will be more difficult for criminals to bypass, thus keeping you more protected. However, how protected should you be? The answer varies.

How Protected Should You Be Online?

The internet is huge, and with its depths comes many dangerous opportunities for crime and hacking. Now that you know the different ways you can protect yourself from these potential attacks, the next step is to ask yourself how protected you need to be. The answer requires you to use your best judgment and base it around your personal internet habits and what kind of information you have at stake. Everybody should be protected online, of course, but depending on the severity of the information you need protected, you may not need as much protection as others. One or two layers of protection should be adequate for casual internet usage, whereas if you run a business or have very crucial data you need protection, the more layers of protection you use, the better.

The internet, while very useful, comes with dangers, but there are many ways you can stay safe. Use your best judgment based on your needs, and you can enjoy the internet happily and safely.

Tags: online, secure

About the Author

Sumit Bhowal An Internet addict and a MASTAN , Also a lazy Freelancer . I don't try to reinvent the wheel I just like to soak things in Steroid's :p Thanks (y)