Strengthen Your Resources Against Security Threats

In today's computer environment, security threats are hiding around each and every corner. To ignore them and pretend they do not exist, will not make them go away. When you choose to fortify your home, you perform certain procedures such as installing stronger deadbolt locks, remove high shrubbery, install motion detectors, flood lamps, and internal alarm systems. Protecting your personal computers and remote devices against a security threat requires the same strong measures and types of thinking.

Hackers have become very smart and devious in the various methods they use to attack your information resources. Rather than make it easy for them, employ the following techniques and make it more difficult for hackers to gain entry into your personal information.

Shortened URL addresses have become the norm in applications such as social networking due to the message text limit and the ease a shortened URL brings over typing a lengthy address. Unfortunately many people choose to click one of the shortened URL without knowing its true destination. There are options. Certain applications contain options in their settings allow you to view the destination of a shortened URL, the real URL address it represents, and a count of how many people have visited that link. Once utilized, you are now better informed about the website you are asked to visit. Web browsers also have options or plug-ins that will allow you to preview a shortened URL. Some of them even allow you to make a preview of the URL in order for others to see the true destination of the link. Other safe methods include ExpandMyURL, a utility that will check the final destination of the website and color the shortened URL green if a site is safe to visit.

Harvesting personal data from one of your social networking sites is another method hackers use. All a hacker needs to do is to pull a thread from one location, collect another thread, and with enough threads gather enough information about you to perform damage. One of the most popular social networks, Facebook, in their Privacy Settings option, allows users to pick and choose who is allowed to access your personal data. Facebook even contains privacy levels that you can set in order to strengthen the security of your personal information. It should be stressed that if you receive a friend request from someone you do not know, you should not accept the request. Another area of caution of the various quizzes, seemingly innocent chain list and other similar Facebook posts. By providing this information you are giving small threads for someone to collect and put together to create a larger puzzle about you. True personal information about you such as the town you grew up in, your birth date, and other related data should either be removed or changed to something false.

Another area of concern or frames you may have connected to on other social networks. It is very simple for a hacker to gain entry and take over one of your friends profiles, and then use that profile to gain your trust. While you may think you are connecting or conversing with your trusted friend, there may be a hacker on the other end of the conversation. If a conversation or request from a friend seems to be strange or unlike them, do not be afraid to question their intent.

Many users choose to do business or shop online as it is a very easy convenience. The details and habits we leave online is a trail that leads back to who we are. The types of movies you watch and rent, the books you purchase and read it, the merchandise you buy, and the friends you have linked to all point back to you as a person. One way to protect yourself is to conduct online business only with companies that you completely trust. The private policies that online businesses publish are for your benefit. Read them and remain up to date in any policies that may have changed. As you are conducting business online, learn how to use the private browsing option in your web browser. Private browsing deletes information from your browser cache including data you entered into a form, passwords, the site you visited, the search results, and other related information as soon as you close your browser. This feature also prevents other individuals from going into your browser, searching the history, and discovering your activities.

Do enough browsing on the Internet and at some point you will come across an advertisement stating your personal computer has been infected with many viruses and spyware and the only way to clean your system is to download their antivirus software. Or you may have received an e-mail stating it is your bank or other financial institutions requiring your personal data in order to verify your account. Your best bet is to ignore both situations as is a phishing scheme designed to steal your information. Make sure you are using the most up-to-date version of your web browser is they have anti-phishing schemes built into them. This way, if you accidentally visit a scammer's website your browser will alert you. Your browser may also filter out the malicious websites. Become personally aware of the real websites you visit and their URL address. By recognizing the real addresses you should immediately be able to detect a web address that is fake or has been spoofed.

Cell phones have entered the hackers playground. If you receive a text message that appears to have been sent from your network provider or your banking institutions asking you to follow a link to a certain website and install an update, feel free to just trust it. Following that link might result in the installation of malware that will change your phone settings and allow the hacker to access any usernames and passwords along with other confidential information. You can always call your cell phone provider to verify if the text you received was truly legitimate. Real and reputable companies will not do business in that manner. Unsolicited links and text messages should immediately be deleted.

Portable remote devices including smart phones, netbooks, and laptops provide the freedom and convenience to connect and do business from practically any location. Therefore, it is also easy to lose these items or have them stolen. It is a good security practice to encrypt your data in case one of these unfortunate situations occur. Many encryption schemes and programs exist for you to protect your information. Make sure that you keep your encryption key in a safe place and memorized. If you lose or forget your encryption key even you won't be able to access your own data.

Stronger passwords also help. The longer your password, the harder it will be to crack, and the mixture of alpha and numeric characters along with character symbols make it even harder to guess and decipher. Some hardware vendors have the option of a recovery service. These services remain hidden on your hard drive and lie dormant. When you file a report that your laptop or remote device has been stolen, the remote service application comes alive when the thief uses your laptop or computer to connect to the Internet. The software will contact a monitoring center and pass along its current location. At this point the service will let you remotely delete all of the data on your system.

Wireless hotspots and other locations are notorious for hackers to create their own wireless network and trick you into connecting to them. As soon as you have connected to the malicious wireless network, the hacker is able to capture your wireless packets and collect any sensitive or confidential information you transmit. To protect yourself, verify the actual name of the network the establishment offers. By asking for their SSID or Service Set Identifier, you now know what to look for in your list of available wireless networks. Any hacker can create a wireless network and choose a name similar to the real network. Always be aware. If you don't trust an open network do not link to it, as the majority of free wireless networks contain very weak encryption if they contain it at all. Unless you are utilizing a secure connection, for instance a VPN or virtual private network, do not use public wireless networks to perform activities of the sensitive nature, including online banking and other related activities. Within your own personal wireless network you should be using the strongest encryption method possible. Currently that is WPA2 also known as Wi-Fi Protected Access Two, or second version.

Smart users back up their data to an external hard drive. In case that backup is lost or stolen the data on your hard drive should be encrypted. Encrypted external USB drives and external drives containing biometric fingerprint scanners also exists. Online backup services are also another option.

Running an old copy of your operating system or application software is a risky proposition. An early version of a software solution is an open target for hackers as they love to exploit security vulnerabilities. In addition to antivirus and anti-malware solutions and a firewall, you should always update your operating system and applications with the latest revision and security patches. Applications that use Adobe Flash and Adobe Reader are known to be a hacker's target. Always make sure you have the latest update of these two applications.

There are many sites that update any security holes in their software applications you utilize. Remain aware by visiting these sites on a regular and continuous basis. For Windows users Automatic Updates or the option Windows Update should always remain and enabled in order to automatically download and install security update as it becomes available.

Believing the information and personal data you contain is not worth the hackers time is a misnomer. A hacker or thief may not want your data, but they can take control of your system and use it in a bot net configuration. Your system can also be used to pass along malware and spam to other users and websites. Plus, identity theft always remains a possibility.

The fact that you have antivirus software installed does not mean you are completely protected from harm. There are many other threats including spam, spyware, phishing schemes and other related malware that antivirus solutions do not or will not detect. In addition, new viruses and malware appear daily. Your antivirus software is only as good as the last time you downloaded updates.

Install firewalls are great protection, but hackers have figured out a way around firewalls. Your system contains ports that allow data to pass back and forth freely. All a hacker has to do is to convince you to visit a malicious website or answer a malicious e-mail in which case the firewall will not protect you. The belief that you visit good well-intentioned websites and stay away from websites that are not safe for work is not one hundred percent foolproof. Very reputable sites including Microsoft, CNN, and government sites such as the FBI have been infiltrated by hackers.

CISSP online training and its compliment of information security issues are a necessity for organizations in need of stronger security measures, and an opportunity for IT professionals seeking a new and rewarding career in global demand. K Alliance is a strong source of information security certification training, which includes operational security, access control, security risk management, network security, telecommunications, business continuity and disaster recovery, security policies and compliance, and many more important issues and proven security methods that are accepted the world over, solid, time tested techniques that strengthen the security of your data.

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