The war on cybercrime is one which is ongoing and a fierce battle. There are always new threats being developed, and both businesses and individuals are targeted heavily by cybercriminals from around the world.
Cybersecurity solutions are developing at a matched rate, but there is still a lot that people can do to prevent cybercrime and protect themselves, their devices and their personal data. When everyone knows how to prevent cybercrime and cybersecurity specialists are developing new lines of defence, it will stop these criminals in their tracks and make the digital and real-world much safer. Here is what you can do to prevent cybercrime.
Use High-Quality Security Solutions
The most obvious way to prevent cybercrime is to install high-quality antivirus software on your devices and to keep these up to date at all times. Specialists like McAfee have developed robust cybersecurity solutions which will protect you against malware, ransomware, and other digital threats.
Firewall Protection
A firewall is another excellent layer of defence which can prevent cybercrime. It is a digital barrier that monitors traffic and blocks untrusted external threats from infiltrating the internal network. Keep your firewall on and running at all times to prevent hackers from gaining access.
Use Secure Websites
When browsing the web, you should always make sure that you are only using secure websites, particularly if it involves inputting sensitive data (online shopping and banking, for example). You can tell when a website is secure because the URL will start with https:// and/or have a seal. Additionally, you should never share sensitive data on an unfamiliar website or social media.
Use A VPN
Using a VPN is a smart way to protect yourself and prevent cybercrime, especially if you regularly connect to public WiFi (a network which is not secured). A VPN creates a secure network which will keep your activity private and stop hackers from gaining access.
Report Cybercrime Related Issues
One of the most important steps to take to prevent cybercrime is to start reporting anything related to this issue that you encounter online. Protecting yourself is the bare minimum for preventing cybercrime, but you can actively fight against the problem by reporting fraudulent websites, scam artists, viruses, and anything else related to cybercrime.
Educate Others
Leading on from this, you can also be active in the fight against cybercrime and stop it from impacting other people by educating them on how to stay safe and protect their data. This should include people in your family, friends and co-workers. There are many people who do not know how to prevent cybercrime, and this is a problem for everyone. By sharing your knowledge, you will be not only protecting those that you teach but others as well.
It seems that every day on the news, there is a story of a cybercrime impacting either a business, large institution or an individual. Cybercrime targets everyone, and there are constantly new threats being developed, which means that people need to know how to protect themselves and fight back against this growing issue.
