Cybersecurity threats are becoming more rampant as the world continuously evolves into the era of technology.
An environment where artificial intelligence now takes up the work of humans, where machines are programmed or built to work 10x faster than humans, and where technology is dominating society. As much as technology is making many things easier and faster for humans, it has its demerits.
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Brief Introduction to Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity has helped to protect the data and information of both individuals and organisations. This, in turn, has helped reduce the rate at which people’s personal information is exposed.
It has also protected corporations from experiencing huge losses as a result of data breaches, which could risk these companies enormous amounts of money and lead to reputational damage.
One beautiful thing about cybersecurity is that even when these accounts and personal information get hacked, technology, through cybersecurity in particular, has helped trace the source of the breach and reduce the impact.
Cybersecurity Threats: What it Entails
AI and tech are not human, but they are controlled by humans, and sometimes glitches can occur in the machine’s activities or productivity, which might result in unimaginable damages, putting personal and important information at risk.
Despite these threats, we entrust our data and information to technology because they are designed to be ‘perfect’. Making tech a medium of storage is a risk; however, making humans a medium of storage is a bigger risk.
Humans are designed to forget. We tend to forget things due to memory capacity. We are not a reliable source of storage; hence the need for technology.
Since we have determined that technology is necessary, we must also determine the best way to protect the data that we store. This can be achieved by inculcating the use of cybersecurity.
Hacking
People who are familiar with the use of computers understand basic programming languages. Some of these people have made a profession out of hacking others’ information and demanding huge amounts of money to stop them from releasing this information.
There can be both ethical hackers and unethical hackers who use their knowledge for criminal activities.
Ransomware is not a glitch by the computer system but a threat generated by humans to demand money from individuals.
In these cases, hackers hold people’s files and demand money to return them. This way, personal information are prone to a lot of destruction.
Identity Theft
A significant threat is identity theft. This can lead to a lot of damages; such as an innocent person being imprisoned and other unimaginable circumstances.
This is when someone uses your personal data and pretends to be you.
Most times, these people use your face, name and other things to carry out criminal acts like theft and robbery. They sometimes demand money from the people around you.
You may be surprised when you experience where an individual hacks your phone and demands money from everyone on your contact list. They can sometimes also use things like your credit card.
Furthermore, advertisements and links from unknown websites can make one lose personal information. No matter the status, no one is exempted from this.
In order to steal personal information, people go as far as sending fake mails or creating websites that trick you into giving personal information. Once certain buttons are clicked on a website, your data gets leaked.
In addition, this is also experienced when hackers break into a company’s system and steal customer info.
Final Thoughts
Data protection is very vital and synonymous to personal protection of digital information. These threats can be avoided by creating stronger passwords and changing passwords from time to time.
Avoid clicking on unknown websites and practise using two-time passwords when needed. Information that matters includes identity, money and reputation.
Public Wi-Fi connection without protection can make people have access to your personal data.
In today’s digital age, people often overshare on social media, putting themselves at risk. Avoiding these dangers, can safeguard personal data.
Read Also: Top 5 Cybersecurity Tips For Businesses
