It is extremely important that you as the user understand why in the heck you should be concerned about the security of your device. Sure you may have heard about the tons of malware out there or the ransomware stealing millions from large corporations, but it is easy to disregard such headlines as a user. “What would anyone want with my computer?” proves to be the usual user mindset. It really does pay to be conscious however, and proactive none the less. Malware, and ransomware, a type of malware, is designed by cyber criminals with boatloads of knowledge as to how to steal your information, passwords, bank account numbers, log-ins, sensitive data and of course, your money. The general tactic appears in the form of downloaded malware or ransomware, unsuspecting to the user, waiting idly by until the person on the other side decides to take a dig into your life. Like the monster under your bed, but worse.
Malware is something to worry about because for one, it is used to indefinitely steal your data and these days..your money. Not to mention the fact that if you happen to lose to cyber theft, not much can be done to help your case. Most cyber criminals operate in foreign countries outside U.S. legal jurisdiction, and to be honest even if they were, you still wouldn’t get your money back. It’s just not the way it works.
Don’t be a victim.
Ask anyone and they will tell you the quickest way to get hacked is by lack of updates for commonly hacked programs, basically leaving your doors unlocked and asking to be robbed, and by being tricked into installing a Trojan, the equivalent of the robber ringing the doorbell and you inviting them to stay for dinner before they rob you dry. Neither is good!
“Sure, there are hundreds of other methods: SQL injection attacks, password guessing, and so on. But nearly everything besides unpatched software and downloaded Trojans is statistical noise. In fact, if you fix the main two issues, you almost don’t need to do anything else.” – Roger A. Grimes computer security columnist for Info World
Malware can be broken down into worms, viruses, Trojans, and hybrids. Viruses spread by infecting other host files and when run initiate the malware to commence. Worms are self replicating, once started they need no further assistance. Trojans need victims to get to business. They do not spread themselves, rather the originating hacker must spread each copy to each victim separately, usually via email. The benefit to this is that unless you experience ransomware, that locks the device, Trojans can be removed once identified.
You’d be surprised the amount of users that still give away their logins to hackers every day. It’s insane. Typically the user is sent a phishing email asking for credentials and claims to be from a legitimate website. Many times the email makes a small call to action such as threatening the termination of service. Trust the website in this case, not the email and go directly to the website to confirm.
Signature-based anti-malware simply cannot keep up with the thousands of malicious programs that hit each month. That is just the truth of the matter. Some of the responsibility must be in the hands of the user, or a good IT management team. A single antivirus program can only get so far, it would be who of you to periodically run a boatload of free antivirus programs at once. Together, the programs together can identify what the single one could not.
If you would like to educate yourself in more detail about the information presented in this blog post please visit : www.infoworld.com
