On May 28, 2020, PLDT’s Twitter account was hacked by a group of hackers, namely Anonymous, in the Philippines. Fast forward to July 15, and another Twitter attack happened, this time with Apple’s twitter account. Even though these are well-known companies with strong cybersecurity, this kind of attack can also happen to you.
As a tech consumer, you have the responsibility of protecting your phone and yourself from cyber attacks. We’ve listed down some of the best ways to protect yourself from cyber-attacks.
Table of Contents
Unsafe Links
One of the best ways hackers can have access to your account is through a link, also known as Phishing. These people will create a fake website that you’ll be redirected to when you click a particular link. These fake websites are made to obtain sensitive pieces of information such as your username(s), password, credit card details, and other confidential data that can be used against you.
We highly advise only to visit websites that have a lock icon before the link. These links are often sent through email, or direct message through a random person, so keep that in mind.
Only download apps from the Appstore/ Play Store
Downloading apps that are not inside the Appstore/ Play Store are prone to a data breach. These apps will ask for permission to access your photos, location, camera, and microphone. These apps can be modified and be used to gather information and sometimes even photos, messages, and locations.
To prevent this from happening, always think if permission from these apps corresponds to their purpose. Otherwise, you can always revoke their access. This tip doesn’t only apply to apps outside Appstore and Play Store because there are some reports wherein malicious apps went undetected and published on the Apple Appstore and Google Play Store.
Two-Factor Authentication
One of the easiest ways to protect your social media account is by activating Two-Factor Authentication. What this does is, on top of your password, apps will send a unique code, either through your email or to your phone number, every time you log in. Two-Factor Authentication adds up an extra wall of protection from attacks.
Most social media platforms support this. To know the steps on how to activate this, click the links below.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google, Apple, LinkedIn
Software Update
Smartphone companies always do refinements to their operating systems to improve the overall user experience and make improvements to their security. That is why keeping your smartphone up to date is a must since Apple and Google are always releasing security patches to their operating systems.
Put a Passcode
People might have a misleading thought that when you have a passcode on your phone, it means you are hiding something. Well yes, but the majority of the reasons you should put a passcode on your device is to protect sensitive information from your friends and hackers. Plus, placing a passcode is the easiest way to protect yourself from invaders if you lost your phone or if it got stolen.
Have you been a victim of a cyber attack? What precautions did you practice? Let us know in the comments section below!
There’s things that I think you should add.
1. Avoid doing anything that involves money/banking and/or personal information while connected to a public wifi.
2. Use different emails for different purposes. One should avoid just using one email for everything.
3. Use private browsing/incognito mode when browsing potentially unsafe websites.