Trick or Treat: 5 Cybersecurity Tips to Keep Your Halloween Cyber-Trick-Free
The tenth month of the year, October is best known for Halloween, but it is also celebrated as the National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. And surprisingly, there are many similarities between these two! Let’s see how:
- For starters, they are both scary and frightening. It’s always like there is a new scare on the way.
- Next, trick-or-treating is a traditional custom where children (and sometimes adults) wearing costumes go knocking on other people’s door asking for ‘trick or treat’ to get candy or at times, people give them money too. However, for the cybercriminals, there’s no treat. It’s all about tricking!
- Just like in masquerade balls, people go to the parties all dressed up in costumes and wearing masks; the digital world is the same. The only difference is that except you, all the hackers are behind the mask, staying anonymous.
These were just a few instances. We can go on stating them, but it won’t end. The bottom line is Halloween and cybersecurity are quite alike.
And as Halloween, typically celebrated on 31st October every year, marks the end of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, it brings up the perfect opportunity to recall some essential cybersecurity tips to keep all the internet ghosts, monsters, witches, and zombies away from invading your privacy and getting their hands on your sensitive data.
Security breaches can wreak havoc on businesses, and they don’t seem to stop. Instead, they are increasing every day, making it even more crucial to stay alert and take the necessary precautions. One cyberattack does not just cost you loss of data but can only potentially ruin your brand’s reputation, scare away customers, and disrupt your organization.
In this blog, we will discuss five tips that will help keep you safe from spooky people sneaking in the dark web.
1. Never Click on Links From Strangers
As kids, our parents always taught us never to accept candies or sweets from any stranger (well, apart from Halloween, of course), and similarly, we should never click on links sent by a stranger. They can be just as harmful.
In phishing scams, attackers will approach you impersonating a legitimate entity and ‘trick’ you into opening an email or message or clicking on an ad to steal your confidential information, including login credentials, credit card details, and bank account details, among others. At the same time, the victim thinks they are interacting with a trusted source.
Therefore, instead of clicking on any suspicious link received from an unknown source, first, confirm the information present in that email or message with the company’s official website.
2. Safeguard Your Candy With a Solid Password Protection
Just like it is essential to safeguard your candy from the hands of the big bad bully roaming in the neighborhood, or your sibling, or parents, using a solid password is also crucial for your cybersecurity.
Think of passwords as the first layer of protection against cyberattacks, and they also happen to be one of the easiest and best methods to keep all your accounts secured. Therefore, be sure to create and maintain a strong password comprising numbers, symbols, uppercase and lowercase letters, punctuations, etc.
However, many people do create a solid password but end up using the same for all their accounts so that they don’t ‘forget’ it. Don’t make this mistake! Even if one of your accounts gets hacked, unfortunately, the hacker would have gained access to all your accounts using the same password before you know it. That’s the first thing they do because they are very well aware of how many people make this mistake. Always use different passwords for different accounts and change them every 1.5 to 2 months.
3. Chase Away the Online Prowling Beasts
While all the beasts are gone with Halloween in the physical world, in cyberspace, things work a bit differently. Here online beasts can invade your device, going unnoticed for months.
Using unsecured public Wifi can make your devices vulnerable to cyberattacks on your important data. Even if they say at the restaurant, cafes, hotels, or any other public place that their network is secured, don’t take their word for it.
You are responsible for your data, and therefore you need to take steps to keep it safe. Whenever using a public Wifi, make sure to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to encrypt your data, mask your online activity, and anonymize your IP address to shield you from cyberattacks.
4. Get a Costume for Your Personal Information
Trick-or-treating without a costume is strictly condemned, and similarly, sending your personal information online without encryption is frowned upon too.
Using a secured site or network helps keep your sensitive information risk-free by encrypting it.
Moreover, using a secure site (https) on your mobiles instead of an app provides enhanced security for your data and device.
5. Hide Your Candy Trail
When you are out trick-or-treating, it is fun to post pictures of your costume, candy stash, and spooky decorations that you saw on your way.
Most social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, etc. enable location services while using the app.
People are increasingly using GPS-enabled devices, but your location information can give the attackers a heads up on when and where you are going. While you are away, they get a gap to trespass on your privacy and steal your personal data.
Conclusion
Cybersecurity is your own responsibility and no one else, but you need to take care of it for yourself. Use different strong passwords and two-step authentication to stay safe. Change your passwords often. Practice backing up your data every hour, day, week, or month whatever you think suits your business best. Avoid clicking links or opening emails and messages coming from unknown sources, and take proper measures while using a public network. Keep your location services turned off whenever not required.
These small steps will go a long way in keeping your data and devices cyber-safe. Keep these five tips in mind, and you will be able to scare away the intruders not just on Halloween but all year round.