Posted by Being the victim of a data breach is common. Human errors like clicking on suspicious links and accessing sketchy websites can provide cybercriminals with access to your data effortlessly. Hackers search weaknesses in the systems and take advantage of any failing. If you ever heard about data breaches, you know that the internet is not a safe place to expose your personal information; a small mistake can have serious consequences that might impact your personal life and the company’s reputation. If you want to find out what a cyber-attack means and the impact it has on the victims, keep reading.
How does data breach happen?
A cyber-attack happens when your sensitive information is stolen from your device systems or digital accounts by a malicious entity. It is an illegal activity that can cause financial loss, content leakage of your personal information and extensive damage. Cybercriminals are aware of human vulnerabilities, so they start with a simple move like a captivating email containing malicious links that might seem appealing at first glance, which lead to a website designed to steal your credentials and that enables cybercriminals to gain deeper access to all of your information. 80% of breaches involve password attacks or stolen credentials, so it’s easy to become a victim of a data breach by accessing fraudulent websites. Despite your attempts to protect the system with anti-virus programs, the human factor in cybercriminal activities is more effective. For an increased security level, people try to prevent a cyber-attack, seeking professional advice from cyber security experts and getting compensation for the damages that this event has caused with a data breach claim. Providing the evidence of a data breach, professionals at https://www.databreachclaims.org.uk/ will take your case to court in order to help you recover your sensitive content and compensate for the damages of this draining cyber-attack. And you can always learn more about all the ways you can protect yourself from data breaches: the internet is full of relevant information!
Types of data breaches
Cybercriminals use creative methods to steal sensitive content from your systems. Here are some examples of data breaches to understand better what they are and mitigate the chances of becoming the victim of a cyber-attack:
- Malware: this is an intrusive program installed on a victim’s system without authorisation. It is designed to steal sensitive information from your device.
- Password guessing: As easy as it sounds, guessing a simple and short password is a walk in the park for cybercriminals.
- Phishing: this technique is commonly used through a fraudulent website that convinces you to sign up, requiring an account, but your credentials will be transmitted directly to the hackers.
- Recording keystrokes: the cybercriminals can send you an email containing Keyloggers that, once installed, record what you are typing on your computer. This is an easy way to steal passwords and credit card details from your system.
- Ransomware: The system is blocked; with this method, cybercriminals usually target big companies in order to obtain a ransom.
- DDoS: A distributed denial of service attack is generally financially motivated. This technique shuts down the business operational systems, allowing cybercriminals to steal sensitive data. It’s a practice competitors can use to steal clients in the meantime.
Tips to protect yourself from data breach
It’s crucial to be aware of the danger of a cyber-attack because, as you might understand, it can be easily conducted on your systems. Despite the Anti-virus programs installed on your device, cybercriminals study human behaviour, and they take advantage of your naïve curiosity. Cyber attackers take every opportunity to target their next victims.
These are essential tips that can help you protect from a data breach:
- Use a strong password: avoid short words that are easy to guess and use different characters, caps lock and numbers. It’s crucial to use different passwords for multiple accounts.
- Install multi-factor authenticators on your devices: It requires you to prove your identity besides the password for an increased security level for your accounts.
- Install the latest version of the software and its security patches that mitigate systems vulnerabilities
- Open secure URL: to prevent malevolent links, pay attention to the websites you’re accessing.
- Pay attention to emails you receive from unknown senders and their content.
- Check log-in attempts on your device and report the ones coming from suspicious locations.
- Report to your bank any transactions you don’t recognise from unknown locations.
- Encrypt data on the emails containing sensitive content.
What are the damages of data breaches?
Besides the emotional impact that a cyber-attack has, a data breach causes significant and long-term damages. Cybercriminals can use their skills with the intent of making a financial profit or destroying the reputation of their victims. It’s a long path in order to gain back control of your sensitive content; your accounts will be temporarily blocked, and your system will suffer multiple changes that will enable you to access your personal information. Also, data breaches are the biggest concern for companies’ leaders, as business operations are disrupted until cyber security professionals investigate the case deeply. In the meantime, besides the financial theft of cybercriminals, they can lose a significant amount of customers due to their deficient security level. A cyber-attack can impact the healthcare system as well; if a patient is a victim of a data breach, most probably his medical records will be deleted, and, as a consequence, he will lose insurance and vital benefits. Furthermore, some cybercriminals are active users of the dark web, an online hidden browser for illegal activities on the internet. For example, identity theft can be a significant risk of your data stealing.
The bottom line
The Internet is an essential part of our daily life. People use social media accounts, sign up on multiple websites and browse the internet in search of information that feeds their curiosity. Understanding how exposed your personal information is online is crucial to mitigate the risks of a cyber-attack. If you notice suspicious activity in your systems, it must be reported immediately to authorised experts.
