How to improve your cybersecurity?

At a time of rampant digitization of society, one of the major challenges will be cybersecurity.

Until recently we didn’t care much because we thought that hacks only happen to others and are rare. Think again, it’s a growing phenomenon and it’s not going to stop given the digitization of the world. Money, personal data are therefore in danger.

So here are the crucial points to optimize your cybersecurity:

1. Use a secure email service: all email services are not equal because they do not use the same protocols, thus Gmail, Yahoo, Free are the weakest, Outlook (hotmail) is much more robust but for optimal confidentiality, you can turn to Protonmail and Posteo . Given that the other services are dependent on the associated mailbox, this is a crucial choice, we will see this in the next point.

2. As far as possible do not use centralizing accounts ( Onedrive, Microsoft, Google, Icloud, Samsung, Huawei etc. ), indeed if they are associated with a weakly secure mailbox, all your data can be compromised , Although this may diminish the experience of your smartphone, this measure is worth it, Huawei applications are mostly available without a mandatory account and it is possible to use your browser to perform other tasks such as banking, emails, social networks etc.

3. For critical passwords (Wi-Fi, computers, clouds…. ), use combinations of upper and lower case letters or random symbols because hackers use dictionaries, an easier method is to use a phrase or word put together. Keep them noted at home, password managers represent a risk because if they are hacked all of your applications are at stake.

The 2-step validation has flaws and also traces you, it is passable.

5. In the same way pay attention to your Android TV , it can control all the devices in your house. Remove the Google account and reset it, use it without an account or use an account made with a secure email address.

4. Do not trust Google Play anymore, it is infested with viruses that absorb everything you write ( keylogger ) and change your phone settings, changing app permissions is not enough. Android is ultimately garbage, use this kind of smartphone with minimal functions. Do not use google Chrome anymore , its permeability to pop-ups and viruses is too great.

6. Pay attention to PC and Mac viruses, which are often caught by downloading software, media and others especially on Torrent. The best antiviruses I know are McAfee, ESET, F-Secure and Kaspesky, it is a necessary investment for my taste. There would be fewer viruses and dangers on Linux, caution is nevertheless required.

7. Check that the PC’s firewall is activated, configure it well on your antivirus and you can even configure that of your router via its interface with an ethernet cable.

8. The Brave browser seems to be the most advanced with Firefox just below it, they are untrackable and clear cookies regularly through settings

9. only click on a link if it starts with https://

10. Avoid connecting to the first available Wi-Fi, unless necessary, they can be hacked and this can infect your devices, the 3G or 4G network is much more secure.

Özler ATALAY YÜKSELOĞLU