One of the fastest-growing crimes today is cyber-attacks. Estimated to cost the world close to $6 trillion annually, cybercrimes have caused unrecoverable damage. Let’s be honest, working on the internet has become a crucial part of our lives, and asking people to abandon this usage is as close as asking them not to breathe. Therefore, it is important to know the ways through which you can make your internet experience secure and protected from cyber-attacks.

From stolen money to theft of personal information, cyber-attacks have caused great damage to corporate as well as individual levels. While it has harmed productivity in the corporate sector, it has caused damage beyond recovery in individual cases. According to a 2021 report, cyber-crimes cost businesses close to $7 trillion across the United States. It is among the fastest-growing types of crime.

A famous incident occurred in 2014 when there was a data breach at Marriot Hotel that led to the exposure of 500 million guest members’ names, addresses, birthdays, emails, and phone numbers to hackers. This showed how diligent these hackers have become in fetching details of individuals. 

Before you move on to the types of cyber threats, subscribe to the Medicom channel lineup to get the best TV entertainment.

Types of Cyber Threats for Individuals

Before learning how to protect yourself from cyber-attacks, here are some of the common cyber-crimes targeted towards individuals that you need to learn about first: 

Identity Theft

One of the most common cyber-attacks happening to individuals is identity theft. By deceiving individuals into identity fraud, hackers obtain personal details like your name, driver’s license, social security information, and more. These digital criminals at the crime scene later use your information after committing fraud or stealing someone’s property or goods. These criminals use your details to flee safely from the crime scene. 

Social Engineering

Another common cybercrime happening currently is social engineering. In these types of cyber-attacks, cybercriminals manipulate individuals into obtaining the information they need to log in to their accounts, networks, and systems. After doing so they steal people’s financial data, money, and other valuable information. 

Botnets

The word derived from the words “bot” and “network” identifies networked computer cyber-attacks where hackers infect the private system and send spamming content and campaign to steal information from networks.

Phishing Attacks

Phishing attacks are one of the harmful cyber-attacks that are happening frequently. In this, cybercriminals fool people into entering their login details and passwords by sending them spam emails that contain links to hacker-spoofed websites. Once an individual enters their credentials and passwords, hackers store the information in their database and use it to steal money and other valuable properties of victimized individuals. 

There are more cyber-attacks happening in the world today on organizational and individual grounds. However, businesses and organizations are working days and nights to come up with a solid security system to protect their valuable data. On the other hand, individuals are suggested to keep their data private by enabling the following solutions:

Use a Reliable and Trustworthy Internet Service

Internet insecurity is a leading world issue that is causing individuals into handing over their personal and private information to malicious cybercriminals. One of the easiest solutions to protect yourself from cyber-attacks is by using a reliable and trustworthy internet service. With Mediacom Internet plans, individuals can not only have a better internet experience with high-speed internet speed but can also protect themselves from exposing their details to hackers who gain easy access through unreliable internet services.

To ensure that your home and work internet is secure, you can also use a VPN that acts as an additional security layer. 

Build Strong Passwords

Often people overlook the importance of having a strong password for your applications and websites. Using a combination of 10 letters, symbols, and numbers forms a good and strong password that helps to create a security layer for your websites and applications.

Be Vigilant on Social Media Platforms

The easiest path for social engineering crimes infecting individuals is by entering their social media accounts. By exposing your personal information like your mother’s maiden name or other information like this, you might end up giving details to common security questions of your accounts to hackers. Therefore, it is important to have your information locked down on social media platforms.

Summing Up

Cybercriminals have become extremely malicious and clever in their methods. Therefore, even if after protecting your data with reliable internet service, strong passwords, and limiting the exposure of personal details on social media platforms you fell victim to a cyber-attack then here is what you have to do. Immediately contact the companies, banks, or platforms where the fraud occurred. Also, if you have become a victim of identity theft then report it to Federal Trade Commission (FTC).