Direct attacks, number of compromised web sites, email phishing campaigns, and malicious access points has grown exponentially, which has infected unsuspecting users – regardless of their devices –with spyware, malware, compromised applications, and even ransomware

Fremont, CA: Cyber-threats or cyber-attacks are the worst nightmares an IT company can have. According to a recent Fortinet Threat Landscape Report, Android-based malware represents 14 percent of all cyber threats. In addition to direct attacks, the number of compromised web sites, email phishing campaigns, and malicious access points have grown exponentially, which has infected unsuspecting users – regardless of their devices –with spyware, malware, compromised applications, and even ransomware.

Most of the companies nowadays allow their employees to access critical business apps or software, using their personal devices. The risk to an organization increases, if any of the personal device of these employees gets compromised. Therefore it is important to have cybersecurity awareness programs that provide insight into how these threats can be avoided effectually.

Use Strong Passwords

Common mistake users make is, keeping the exact same password for their online accounts, maybe to remember them easily. In such cases, it becomes easy for the hackers to have access to all the accounts a person uses. Hence, it is advisable to have unique passwords for different accounts and keeping them in a password vault, which again should be highly secured. To even have more security, one must resort to a two-step authentication process. Though it increases the log-in process, it makes the process more secure.

Monitor Social Media

Hackers or criminals usually want to make the attack more personalized by alluring the victim to click on a link. And the most common and obvious place for them to gather information is social media sites. The easiest way to avoid that is to set up strict privacy controls that allow only selected persons to see your page. Individuals opening a social media account must be careful in selecting who they want to visit their accounts. And even if you know the person, first check to see if he or she is already a friend because there can be a possibility that their account is hijacked.

Beware of Public Wi-Fi

Places of public gatherings are most vulnerable to Wi-Fi attacks. While most of the public Wi-Fis are safer, criminals can always broadcast their devices as a public access point. When a user connects to those devices for the internet, the criminals have access to all the data moving between the victim and the third parties. Hence, it's a good practice to turn off Wi-Fi in such places unless required. In an emergency, they should verify the SSID of the location. Installing VPN software ensures secure and encrypted connections.

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