Home » It is the month of Cybersecurity: seven tips within everyone’s reach

It is the month of Cybersecurity: seven tips within everyone’s reach

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The European Cyber ​​Security Month (Ecsm) is the annual campaign of the European Union dedicated to raising awareness on cybersecurity issues.

The initiative was created with the aim of promoting knowledge on an extremely topical topic that does not only concern companies or professionals, but has repercussions on the digital life of all citizens. The ECSM is coordinated at European level by Enisa, while in Italy the campaign is followed by Clusit together with other associations, universities and institutions that organize events, seminars and free cybersecurity conferences throughout October (here our selection). On the occasion of the 2021 edition of the initiative, we asked a Candid Wuest, vice president of Cyber ​​protection research at Acronis, to give us some tips to secure digital devices, browse smoothly and dodge cyber threats that jeopardize the confidentiality of our data.

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1. Yes, passwords are important
“No, the name of your favorite cat or movie is not a good password. Better to choose a short sentence with numbers and special characters, like $ Italian_Tech-IsMy # 1… But don’t use this one! – Wuest told us – Also, be sure to use different passwords for the various accounts, because otherwise when one of them is hacked, such as for example happened with LinkedIn or Twitch recently, everyone else is in danger. It is advisable to use a basic password and additional 2-factor authentication to increase the security factor ”.

2. Mail and websites: don’t believe in miraculous offers
“If the message received in the mail sounds too good to be true, then there is probably something fishy. Dangerous emails often feature fake and famous brands in some cases they pass themselves off as messages from our banks or provider – Wuest told us again – If you don’t understand the deception, people are pushed to reveal sensitive data, such as passwords or payment card details, you are tricked into visiting fake sites or opening malicious attachments that can infect your computer. There are also online shops that pretend to have interesting offers, but that really just want our data and never intend to deliver the goods ”. It doesn’t take much to avoid being deceived: search for the store name on Google before ordering from a little known ecommerce. Often it is enough to understand if the store is authentic or if it is a scam. If you don’t find any results or reviews and the price is too cheap, it’s best to avoid entering your details.

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3. Don’t ignore software updates
“Just like cars need regular maintenance, so do computers. You need to install software updates as soon as they are released regardless of whether they are for the operating system, it smartphone or other applications – Wuest assured us – Cybercriminals often try to abuse software vulnerabilities that can arise to compromise systems, before they are resolved ».

4. Beware of what you publish
“It is very difficult to delete something from the Internet once it is online. Post a funny private video or an angry comment about your boss or company, perhaps winking at a competitor, it could create problems in the future – is Wuest’s recommendation – Better think twice before posting something. It is also advisable to occasionally check the privacy settings in social media accounts in order to be aware of who can see the posts we publish ”. Also, providing too much privacy detail can encourage identity theft and provides malicious clues to hijack our accounts. Not so much because they can guess our passwords, but because they can use private data (a great classic: the surname of the maiden mother) to bypass the security questions of our accounts, resetting access and taking control of them.

5. Back up your data regularly
“Precious vacation photos or that time-consuming digital reading can disappear in a second if you’re not careful. Malicious software such as ransomware could encrypt them, or a hardware failure could corrupt its files – is the warning from the Acronis Vice President – This is why it is important to create a backup of all data. Better to do it automatically with an application, so you never forget it ”. In addition to the classic external hard disk, in recent years the offers of cloud-based remote backup systems have multiplied: if set up with the necessary safety precautions these are also a useful option for keeping your data safe. Furthermore, in the event of a ransomware attack, the presence of an updated backup is the best insurance policy against the payment of the ransom in bitcoin, which should always be avoided a priori.

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6. Exercise a healthy distrust with messages
“Not all scams are about malware and viruses. Some try to get you to send money with great stories. It could be both romantic scams, where the alleged partner just needs a little bit of money for a plane ticket to visit us, and a request for money for an antidote against the coronavirus, which can be purchased if only you pay some initial fee in advance “. Again: “These are the classic prepayment scams. The goal of cybercriminals is to make a profit, so you have to be skeptical and always avoid paying in advance ”. In addition, also pay attention to the messages (including sms) that invite you to click on a password recovery link, or to collect a prize or a package: no company that follows adequate security procedures would ever use this format to get in touch with a customer or to request sensitive data.

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7. Use security software
“Many people think that cybercriminals will not attack them because they have nothing of interest to hide or steal. Worse still, there are those who think they can never fall into the lure. It is a mistake – is Wuest’s conclusion – There is always something interesting to steal for cybercriminals, even if it was just the violation of the e-mail account to send a message to all our friends. There are more than 500,000 new malware threats created every day. It is too much to hope to be lucky ”. Software that combines antivirus and antimalware solutions, all updated frequently, are now within everyone’s reach and often offer free versions.

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