Cybercrime is on the rise because so many of us spend all of our time working and shopping and interacting online. Cybercrime is becoming more sophisticated than ever and simple malware protection is not enough anymore to keep your computer and your data safe when you are online. Many people are not truly aware of the many kinds of cybercrime techniques that can be used to get access to people’s accounts and identity and this is often the root of successful attacks that people say they never saw coming.
If you work or shop or spend a lot of time online, you need to be aware of the various kinds of cybercrime attacks that you could fall prey to. Being aware of the kinds of attacks that you might be exposed to can make all of the difference in protecting your personal information while you are online.
If you are looking for more information about cybercrime techniques and how to avoid them, you need to read on!
Common Cybercrime Techniques and How to Avoid Them
1. Social Engineering
Social engineering attacks are one of the most difficult to manage cybercrime attacks. These attacks are malicious activities that are done through personal interactions. This kind of attack usually uses psychological manipulation that makes people give out sensitive information that hackers are trying to gain access to. This is a common technique that is used against people who are older or who are not aware of these kinds of attacks.
You can protect yourself from these kinds of attacks by being aware that businesses and other official entities will not try to gain your password, social security information, or other sensitive information. These are the usual red flags that will indicate that this contact is not normal and should be ended immediately.
2. Phishing Scams
This is one of the most common cybercrime attack methods. This kind of attack works by causing fear or a sense of urgency in someone which leads them to click on an infected link or interact with a landing page that is not actually for the company that is supposedly reaching out to them. These are often emails and they can be quite cleverly crafted to look official and like they can be trusted.
This is an easy kind of scam to avoid because if you hover your mouse over the link in question it will not be the right link for the company that supposedly reached out to you. Phishing is easy to avoid if you always assume that any email that you receive could include content that you do not want to interact with. Look for signs that are obvious like glaring misspellings or grammar that does not make sense and hold your mouse over any links in the email without clicking. This will make sure that you identify a threatening email and delete it before a hacker gains access to your data.
3. Spoofing
This is a more involved cybercrime that involves making a website that looks like the real one and then deceiving people into interacting with it in an effort to resolve an account problem or pay a bill. Some of these fake sites are very convincing and can look a lot like the actual site in question. This site can be used to spread malware, get your credit card information, or your password.
You can avoid spoofing by paying attention to the link that is at the top of the page when you navigate to a site. If the link does not connect to the name of the company and is not the official website link, do not click anything that is on the spoofed page.
You will want to be wary of any kind of contact that sends you to a page that requires a lot of personal information as well. It might be legitimate, but you should know what the normal landing page for a company you do business with looks like. Inserting any kind of sensitive data into a new kind of landing page that you have not seen before is always a bad idea.
4. Ransomware
Ransomware is often successful when you have failed to keep your network security up to date or have not been using a VPN to access your work network. This kind of attack can also succeed if you have been allowing websites to store your personal login information and personal data. You can avoid this kind of attack by backing up your data and being sure that you do not allow websites to store your login credentials and other information. You can also make sure that you use a VPN for any kind of work that you are doing where you need to access another network.
While this is a threat that is more commonly directed at businesses, you can fall prey to it as an individual as well. This kind of attack involves a hacker gaining access to your network and then locking your personal or company data so that you cannot access it. You will then be asked to pay a ransom to get your data back. This can be very expensive for companies and individuals alike and it can cause data theft that can lead to major issues for other people as well as yourself.
Preventing Cybercrime is Easier Than you Think
If you have always thought that there was nothing that could be done to prevent your personal data or network from being hacked, this list of tips and tricks will help you to avoid common kinds of cybercrime and keep your personal data safe and secure.
You can easily avoid falling prey to common kinds of cyber-attack if you are familiar with the ways that these attacks are postured. Adding effective security to your home network and making sure to run updates on software can also make a big difference in the safety of your network.
Caring for your personal data when you are working or shopping and engaging with others online is easy if you use these best practices.