Phishing has been used against corporations, government agencies, and other organizations for years. The scariest part is that it works. No, one thinks that a hacker would stop there, they want everything. In fact, it’s not just corporations and government agencies that can be victimized by phishing. It can be any person, any business, or any organization.
The truth is that most hackers attack businesses and larger organizations of all shapes and sizes and steal sensitive personal information right from people. The more personal information about you that you leave available to the internet, the more exposed you are to cyber attacks. In this day and age, most business owners are concerned about cyber attacks because they know that the number of cyber attacks rising every year is nearly as many as the number of new credit cards issued. It’s not just the business owners either; millions of people use social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter to reveal personal information about themselves.
If someone has the proverbial “pent” in their hands, then they can easily pull many different hacks depending on what they’re looking for and where they’re searching. Phishers and hackers attack businesses because they know the best way to target businesses and personal users. They target these victims through phishing scams where they use fake emails to attempt to gain access to your social media systems. Often, if the “victim” doesn’t realize it right away, they have already given all of their social media login information and passwords to the “newbie” and the hackers can now start collecting and harvesting personal information from the unsuspecting victim.
A dark web is another popular site for hackers to search for personal and business information. The dark web’s database contains everything from employee records and tax returns to credit card numbers and bank accounts. These databases are usually crawling with a lot of outdated information and many times, hackers attack businesses that have an abundance of old data that they can quickly and easily steal. In fact, old, Stolen & Exported information is one of the biggest reasons why hackers attack businesses, and you probably already knew that, but it’s good to know that there is a solution!
So what can you do to protect yourself from cyber attacks? One great step to take is to change any password you use on your social media system as well as to other websites. Hackers love using different user names to get various levels of access into a business, but having a strong password means that hackers can’t easily steal your information. Also, be sure to change passwords often if you’re using the same one on more than one website. Make sure that you don’t keep the same password on websites as well, or else you may need to contact support and have them reset it for you. Most of the time, changing passwords on social sites and on other websites is enough to thwart most hackers.
Another great way to defend yourself against the dark web is to not provide your personal information out over the internet. When you type in your Social Security number, banking or credit card information over the internet, it’s far too easy for hackers to intercept it and use it for their own purposes. While there are commercial online services that offer identity protection, these services are usually very expensive and often don’t offer the level of protection you need. A better option is to use software designed to protect against hackers who can use your personal information to try and obtain loans and other types of credit. Identity protection software also keeps up with the latest scams and thieves, so you’ll be safe from the dreaded dark web.