There are many computer attacks that we can suffer on the Internet. There are many types of malware, strategies cybercriminals use, and vulnerabilities they can exploit. Now, how can we protect ourselves? The truth is that the vast majority of attacks can be prevented very easily. We are going to talk about it in this article, where we will give some interesting tips.
Common sense prevents most attacks
It is not something that catches us by surprise, but now it has been confirmed by a new study carried out by CybSafe. 80% of computer attacks are due to mistakes we make the users. Errors that we make when browsing, when installing programs, when using certain services and that, in short, leave us exposed.
So what do we have to do to prevent the vast majority of computer attacks? Simply use the common sense and don’t make mistakes. Only with that we would be able to avoid 8 out of 10 cyber attacks. In other words, hackers would have much less chance of catching us, stealing our data, or infecting devices.
And what does it mean to maintain common sense in the network? Something fundamental is to take care of where we click, what we download or what we use. You should never, for example, download an attached file that comes to you by e-mail without really knowing who is behind it. That is precisely something that hackers use a lot to steal information.
You should also not install apps from unofficial sources. That could weigh down the functioning of your system, but also put at risk all the files you have saved and personal data that you use to log in to the different platforms where you have an account.
Phishing attacks are a widely used strategy by cyber criminals. And in order to be successful with these attacks they are going to need us to make a mistake. Basically they are messages that they send with a link that takes us to a fake page. If we click on those links we end up on a site that is actually a scam.
What else to do to protect ourselves
But of course, we have said that we can avoid 80% of the attacks if we maintain common sense and do not make mistakes; what about the remaining 20%? There you will have to take other measures and mainly there are two that we are going to explain. In this way you will ensure that your systems are protected to the maximum and it is much more complicated for hackers to launch an attack.
One of these measures is to have a good security program. If you install an antivirus you will have a lot to gain in order to avoid attacks. It will detect if you download a malicious file and remove it before it’s too late. There are many options, such as Windows Defender itself. There are both free and paid ones, but you should always choose very carefully which one you are going to install.
The second measure that you must take into account to minimize the probability of suffering a computer attack is keep everything updated. Hackers can exploit bugs they find in a system. Those vulnerabilities can allow the entry of viruses, theft of passwords, etc. Therefore, you must always have everything updated and you will avoid many problems.
