Cyber security has been the talk of the town in 2018. With data breaches affecting the users of renowned companies including Google and Facebook to increasing numbers of cyber attacks, it goes without saying that data security has now become more important than ever before.
However, it’s unfortunate that the majority of people are still unaware of the impending danger and risk associated with cyber attacks and the practically endless problems facing you when your security – whether online or offline – is compromised.
Interested in learning more about why data security is so important and what you can do to protect your data? Read on to find out as we tell you the different ways in which your data can be affected or stolen, and the techniques or strategies that you can deploy to ensure that you remain safe both online and offline.
How is Data Lost?
As unfortunate as it may sound, the fact that there are multiple ways in which hackers and unauthorized personnel can have access to your private and personal data still holds true in 2018. Your data can not only be rendered useless or inaccessible by malicious software or viruses that tamper with the code that makes each file up, but you can also lose access to your important files and folders if your system falls victim to a ransomware attack.
In case your computer or device is hosting ransomware, when you try to open certain files or folders, you will get a prompt saying that your files and folders have been locked, and that you will have to pay a certain amount in the form of ransom.
In most cases, the prompt displayed on your screen will have the attacker’s cryptocurrency wallet details so that you may send the requested amount over. What’s important to note here is that in most cases, people still do not regain access to their files and folders even after they pay hundreds or thousands of dollars as “ransom” to their attackers.
While the aforementioned scenarios only affect the data on your own systems and you will often find out about the files and folders that have been affected and take necessary action accordingly, there are other situations in which affected users do not even find out that their data may have been stolen or compromised until years later.
Take, for instance, the example of the recent Google+ data breach. Data of users of the social media platform is speculated to have been affected since the year 2015, however, it is only after the first quarter of 2018 had passed that users found out that such an incident had taken place. Countless other examples throughout history and not-so-recent times also point towards the fact that data is no longer safe anywhere.
But what does that mean for users of technology today? Are we supposed say goodbye to all innovation and transport ourselves back to the prehistoric days when the only thing that people knew about you was the information that you decided to share through your stories?
While that may be a great solution, it’s unfortunately not plausible. However, what we can do instead is develop stricter strategies and techniques to protect our data.
What Can Be Done to Protect Data?
As evident from the cases mentioned above, the importance of data protection has practically increased tenfold. Not only have viruses and malware become more powerful than ever before, but renowned companies, too, are no longer safe from the evils of cyber attacks.
So what can be done to protect data? Allow us to explain.
While employing the usual precautions such as never sharing your private account details over the phone or on unsecured websites is a given, it is now also more important for users of technology to ensure that their systems are also protected. By leveraging firewalls and antivirus software, you do not only increase your chances of protecting your data from attackers, but by keeping your software and patches up-to-date at all times, you can also enjoy a certain level of immunity from attacks such as the infamous Wannacry that penetrated through systems that were not updated.
Additionally, since companies are constantly tweaking their policies and terms when it comes to data security, it is important to look out for any loopholes to ensure that you don’t sign up for third party access to crucial personal information.
AnswerMiner is committed to ensuring a high level of data protection for its users.
