Memorial Day 2017 – State of Online Security

Memorial Day holiday starts the beginning of a busy vacation season in the United States. As people get ready for vacation, the National Cyber Security Alliance in Washington warns about cyber security threats and issued tips on to how to be careful when doing activities online.

Needless to say that technology has made our life easier, from mobile banking, online shopping, money transactions, sharing pictures on social media, to navigation and booking hotels. Everything is at your fingertips. However, great things come with greater risk.

If you are planning to go on a vacation on Memorial Day, here are the few things you need to follow and keep yourself protected while online.

Public WiFi

You are most likely to come across places where you have the privilege to use public wifi and this could expose travelers to risk. The public connection is not secure and their passwords are shared with almost every person who has visited this place. So keep this in mind that somebody is watching your activity on that network. Do not make any purchase on unsecured websites nor share your personal details while using Public WiFi.

Don’t reveal your whereabouts

On your device just turn off the “location services” if you’re not using it. Enabling location on your device means broadcasting your location to criminals and letting them know you are not at home.

Posting vacation pictures

Social media has become a part of our lives and has changed the way we interact with family and friends. This also has high-risk security threats. So think twice before you post pictures as you are letting cyber criminals know how far you are from home. This gives them ample time to do the rest. Hackers love social media.

Logout from your login

Remember, your credentials are not the strong key to protecting your main accounts like Email, banking, and others. You can fortify your online bank account and if that is not possible, then secure it with strong authenticated tools that are available. Some people use biometric as credentials.

Mobile Apps

Delete or uninstall mobile apps that are not in use. These outdated apps may be outfitted with suspicious malware that may trigger malware slowly, thus bringing your banking transaction to a near halt.

Use only ‘https’ website

For banking and shopping, please ensure that you use a website that has an SSL certificate. The URL of the SSL certified website will read like https://. This encrypts the message that passes between you and the website. A non-secured website will have a http:// .

Think Wisely

Take every decision carefully with regards to your online activities, don’t think that having a strong firewall or Anti-Virus software will keep the threat away. You may be thinking that there is nothing worth hacking, but nevertheless, you are putting yourself and others at risk. Remember we are all connected to each other. So do not neglect online security.

Prevention is better than cure – this is a fact. To keep yourself protected from online threats, it is wise to be prepared. Click the button below to know more