5 Essential Tips to Protect Yourself from Cyber Attacks

Muhammad Abu Bakar
3 min readSep 1, 2021

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While accessing the web, it’s essential to protect yourself from cyber-attacks. Isn’t? Yes, it’s crucial to know that you’re always at constant risk of cyber-attacks. Personal, financial, psychological, and emotional harm can be caused by breaches that target your data or that of your family.

According to a recent study, one in every five Americans has had personal data stolen because of their online work. Furthermore, 18% of online adults have had their important details stolen. With so many possible threats out there online, how can you suppose to protect your information from cyber-attacks?

Here are the 5 tips that you can start doing today to better protect yourself against cyber-attacks.

Keep Your System or Software Up-To-Date

The most cyber-attack happens because your system/software isn’t entirely up to date, having weaknesses. Hackers exploit these weaknesses to gain access to your system. The more outdated your system, the more threat you’ve for any external access. To avoid this, update your system first whenever any update arrived. Furthermore, Enable automatic updates on your system.

Avoid the Use of Public WIFI

Whenever your system connects a public WIFI, it gave a path to external access. Hackers can easily access the data stored on your system, from messages to emails and your banking details. The best way to know your system is safe while using a public WIFI is to use a VPN (a virtual private network).

Create a Backup of Your Data

It’s necessary to keep a backup of your sensitive data. On any occasion of disaster (cyber-attack), you must have your data backed up to prevent yourself from serious downfalls (loss of data). Having a complete backup means you’ll never lose your important details.

Try to Share Less online

Sensitive Information that relates to your personal data, welfare, and safety should never be shared online. Including details like your city, job place, and birthdate on social media can give hackers a complete guide of yourself. This guide helps them to steal your data and identity easily. To avoid this inconvenience, kept your information privacy private.

Use Strong Passwords

To ensure your system’s safety, always use strong passwords. The following passwords are considered to be cracked easily.

· Qwerty

· 0000000

· password

· 12345678

· 87654321

These passwords are very common, and hackers can crack them just like a piece of cake (very easily). So, if you’re using these types of variations, avoid them. Don’t repeat your password on different accounts. Consider changing your password regularly and keep it more complex every time.

Conclusion:

In this digital era, fighting cyber-attacks is almost everybody’s business. Protect yourself and your family by following the above-mentioned tips. Tell us in the comments below if these tips proved beneficial for you.

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Muhammad Abu Bakar
Muhammad Abu Bakar

Written by Muhammad Abu Bakar

Abu Bakar is a freelance content writer. He is also a student of Software Engineering. He aims to serve people with his writing.