Any communication is open to security issues and we all regularly hear about high profile hacking cases in the news. The Identity Theft Resource Centre records these security breakdowns and has reported that between 2005 and the present day, in the USA alone, there have been 5,377 individual breaches which resulted in the exposure of over 786 million records.
Is Communication Safe?
We may think back to a time before online communication and believe that we were more secure when we only had access to landlines and mobile phones. To a certain extent this was probably true as there was far less data available to be exposed, however it wasn’t unheard of for telephone conversations to be listened in on or calls to be recorded. One such case which highlights this perfectly is the News of the World hacking scandal where journalists of the newspaper were accused of recording private calls and even accessing people’s voicemail accounts.
We have all long been aware of the dangers which lurk within email and many of us are now savvy when it comes to looking out for phishing attempts. However, with the advent of VoIP, which offers screen share, video conferencing, instant messaging and online chat, this has widened the opportunity for hackers to focus on us. VoIP is an online application and as such our IP addresses can be targeted to bombard us with spam; to access our personal data; to listen in on our calls; or to steal our bandwidth.
Even our social media accounts are not safe as hackers can use the information we provide there for several nefarious purposes. For example, they can steal our personal data; hack into our profiles and operate as us by sending communications to others; and in some cases burglars have even used social media to find out when people are on holiday and thentargeted their homes.
Can We Protect Ourselves?
However, while hacking is a big problem, there are ways to protect your data and in the process continue to enjoy all the benefits online communication can bring.
Anti-Virus Software: The first step to protect yourself is to install robust anti-virus software and ensure it is kept up to date. Scans should be set to run automatically so that any malware can be identified and quarantined before it has time to do any damage.
Password Protection: All applications, including your social media profiles, should be protected by lengthy passwords which comprise a mixture of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters. These should also be changed regularly and not used across multiple sites, as if a hacker gains access to one, they will then be able to access all your data.
Encryption: This is another important element especially where it concerns data transferred by VoIP or stored in the cloud. If your data is encrypted then even if the security is breached the data held should remain private.
Be Aware: The final element is just to remain aware and to look out for any emails that may not be genuine. Never respond to an email requesting personal information and be wary of anyone you don’t recognise asking you to download an attachment.
When it comes to social media change your settings so that only certain people can access your personal information, for example your date of birth can be very helpful to anyone who wants to steal your identity, and be wary of who you receive friend requests from.
While landline telephone calls remain more secure than online communication they also don’t give us all the additional benefits that email, instant messaging and video calls can bring. Therefore, if you want to enjoy the advantages, you need to take the steps outlined above to keep you as secure as possible. The landscape is also one which is always advancing so stay alert to technology innovations and new ways to enhance your data security.
from Darlene Milligan http://ift.tt/1N3Fys6 via transformational marketing
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