A few days ago while I was browsing through my Facebook timeline, I came across a video, something around the name of Peeing Fraud.
Although to be honest, I don’t remember the name exactly. But my intrigued brain made me skip my work for a bit & I started watching it.
So the video goes like this. A man, well-earner, from a metro city, probably working at some finance sector visit a café regularly; you know for client meetings, works, etc. He befriends a waiter at the café, who is struggling to crack the UPSC exam & is quite well-read. He doesn’t mix well with the other waiters & is extremely well aware of current situations. The two often talk & becomes friends.
Sometime later, the man receives a notification that around a million-dollar has been withdrawn from his account. This comes as a shock to him as I am quite sure that all of his information is ‘secured’. But was it?
The story then takes a backward leap on the waiter researching the man online. His habits, travel records, buying behavior everything is well-recorded by him. The times when he gave his phone to the waiter to get it charged, the waiter knows his password. How? All those times when he “casually” checked his messages, did some shopping online in front of him.
And his pin number you may ask? Well for an expert hacker, it is not impossible to track your pin number from all your digital lifestyle habits!
You might be thinking, well he is a fool being so casual with his personal information.
But ask yourself, how many times have you freaked out a little just the way Facebook or Instagram tracks everything we search on Google? Your search for hotels, your timeline then shows a number of hotels & offers.
What is a cyber threat?
Sadly, this concept is becoming more & more relevant in today’s world.
A cyber threat is an act or possible act that intends to steal data (personal or otherwise), harm data or cause some sort of digital harm.
Now, cyber threat doesn’t always mean that someone is placing a hidden camera or hacking dollars from your account.
What is real, however, is the intent of the attacker as well as the potential impact. While many cyberattacks are mere nuisances, some are quite serious, even potentially threatening human lives.
What are the risk of cyber threats?
Digital infrastructures increasingly pervade our lives, and this trend is set to continue. The resulting cyberspace in which so many of our transactions and interactions increasingly take place provides a perfect perch for society’s criminal element to set up shop—there is not only plenty of opportunity for criminal exploitation but there is also less risk of being caught.
Beyond transactional crimes, new techniques & tools often exploit the digital infrastructure without our knowledge.
Cyber threats can come in different forms:
- Financial threat
- Disruption
- Espionage
- Data breaches
- Malware on mobile apps
Emerging cyber threats
One thing about the cyber threat is that is it never static. Even with huge companies, there can be certain loopholes.
Like, there is a saying that iPhones listen to our every conversation.
Basically, it says that Siri answers whenever someone says, “Hello Siri”. So basically the device needs to alert all the time so that it doesn’t miss it “call” right? Think about it, if this is true then it hears your personal conversations as well!
Sources of Cybersecurity threat
There are several different versions of nation-state cyber threats. Some of them are:
- Hackers
- Industrial spies
- Organized crime groups
- Criminal organizations
- Terrorist groups
- Nation-states
- Business competitors
- Unhappy insiders
Even in government levels, there are cyber threats on various occasions.
For example, The Guardian article stated that Chris Painter of the U.S. Department of State once commented in an article that China and North Korea “have frequently exercised their cyber power to achieve their strategic goals around the globe.”
How to create defense & protection?
It can be frustrating thinking about the security threat that can happen anytime.
But there are some measures you can take to prevent these.
Cyber defense for business
When a tech vendor discovers (or is informed of) a security flaw in their product, they typically write code that fixes or “patches” the problem. A host of new technologies and services are coming onto the market that makes it easier to mount a robust defense against cyber threats.
- Systems that enable collaboration between security team members
- Outsourced security services
- Point solutions for anti-phishing and secure browsing
Cybersecurity for individuals
Try to keep it simple.
A piece of good news for individual cybersecurity is that there are big organizations that stand in between consumers & hackers.
Some of the basic practices you can do:
- Anti-virus software- opt for anti-virus software in your system & also keep it updated.
- Password hygiene- Listen not even the biggest organizations can help you if you keep your passwords like “1234” or your birthday. Try to think of something else. Password hygiene can actually go a long way.
- Caution against phishing attacks- do not open file attachment from any unknown sources. For instance, if you get an email that says “past due invoice” with a PDF attachment, don’t open it unless you are 100% sure you know who sent it.
Let’s be honest. It can be a scary world with so much data out there that we can’t control. The threats certainly exist, and they’re getting increasingly potent and frequent. But even if there are risks, there are ways to avoid it.
Want to build a properly secured app? Contact Us at Skyram Technologies. Our experts will provide you with a perfectly secured application for your business. For more blogs read here!