If you are not too concerned about network security, be prepared for the fact that one day your passport data or the CCV code of your card will be in the hands of scammers. And it is better to prevent this than to eliminate the consequences.
Scope of the problem
The digital world has closely intertwined with our daily lives: we have long been communicating, learning, working, making purchases online. But if the concern for security in offline is perceived as something natural, then the rules of conduct on the Web are not met by all.
First of all, we must clearly understand the scope of a possible tragedy. Many people carelessly refer to security on the Internet, thinking: "Who might need my smartphone, I have only photos and a contact book there." So, here's what hackers can learn about you, having access to a phone or a computer:
Photos, videos and other content (even if it is stored in the cloud).
Information about the documents: passport, policy, tickets and other. This is especially true if you store their digital copies in applications such as "Varmarme", Wallet or even in the "Photos" folder.
Financial information, including CVV of your card, account movements, recent payments.
Everything that happens in all your social networks (hacking into the VKontakte account, by the way, is included in the top most expensive hacking services) and mail, access to attachments in messages and confidential corporate and personal correspondence.
Data geolocation, microphone and camera.
Password - a find for a spy
A compromised or weak password is the second most popular method of hacking (according to Balabit research: TOP-10 of the most popular hacking methods). Nevertheless, year after year in the lists of the most popular passwords we can see the classic qwerty, 12345 or even just the password.
There is a reverse situation: a person comes up with a super-long and complex password and uses it in all of his accounts: social networks, forums, online stores, personal offices of banks. Now, when each of us is registered in at least ten different online services, a single password becomes the key to the whole life of a person and can greatly harm her.
Preventive measures:
Determine the complexity of the password based on the account to which it leads. Obviously, the security of the Internet bank is more important than the account on the amateur forum.
A reliable password consists of at least eight characters and meets the following requirements: the presence of uppercase and lowercase letters (agRZhtj), special characters (!% @ # $? *) And numbers. For a password of 14 characters, there are 814 trillion (!) Matching combinations. Check how much time hackers will need to crack your password, you can on the site howsecureismypassword.net.
Do not use common words or personal information that is easily obtained from public sources: birthdays, pet names, company or university name, your nickname, and the like. For example, the password 19071089, where 1989 is the year of birth, and 0710 is the date and month, is not as reliable as it seems at first glance. You can write the name of your favorite song or a line from the poem in a different layout. For example, Tchaikovsky the Frozen Lake → XfqrjdcrbqKt, tlbyjtjpthj.
Protect the most important services with one-time passwords. To do this, you can download the dispatcher applications that generate them, for example KeePass and 1Password. Or use two-factor authentication, when each login to the account will have to be confirmed by a one-time code from the SMS.
Public networks
A broad public Wi-Fi network helps residents of large cities reduce the cost of mobile Internet. Now you rarely find a place without a Free Wi-Fi icon. Public transport, parks, shops, cafes, beauty salons and other city spaces have provided their visitors with free Internet for a long time. But even in your favorite checked place you can run into a hacker.
Preventive measures:
Follow the name of the Wi-Fi-point: the name of the authorized network usually describes the place in which you are, for example MT_FREE in Moscow transport. In addition, the official network always requires authorization through the browser or a one-time SMS code.
Disconnect the automatic connection to the network on the phone and laptop - so you reduce the risk of catching a fake access point.
If you like working from a cafe or often on business trips, transfer money to an Internet bank, then use a VPN connection (private virtual network). Thanks to him all your traffic passes through the network as if in an invisibility cloak, it's very difficult to decipher it. The cost of subscribing to such a service usually does not exceed 300 rubles per month, there are also free offers, for example, with HotSpot Shield or ProXPN.
Use the secure HTTPS protocol. Many sites like Facebook, Wikipedia, Google, eBay support it automatically (take a look: in the address bar the name of this site is highlighted in green, and next to it there is a lock icon). For Chrome, Opera and FireFox browsers, you can download a special HTTPS Everywhere extension.
