Photo Credit: Flickr

By Kasturi Ishak

Cybersecurity is extremely important for everyone who uses the internet to work or for leisure browsing. Without a proper cybersecurity programme, sensitive data and personal information would be stolen and cybercriminals would use it for their personal advantage. The increased usage and advancement of Cloud storage and social media has also caused a rapid increase of cybercrimes. 

Businesses with a vulnerable cybersecurity system would be potential targets for cyber threats. Hence, it is vital to educate employees on how to detect various cyber threats such as phishing scams and malware or ransomware attacks. Thus, employers should provide basic cybersecurity training to their employees for them to gain awareness about cyberattacks.

Every company should be knowledgeable on how to protect and recover computer systems, devices, programmes and networks from any cyberattack. Cybercriminals would constantly be updating and employing new ways to attack businesses with more advanced methods. 

Meanwhile, for individuals, identity theft is always the main issue when it comes to cyberattacks. Hackers would steal and sell personal information of people online. Some hackers would even make ransom demands when stealing information from rich people or celebrities.  

Some ways to prevent cyberattacks is to only use Wifi with a secured password. This is crucial especially when you are accessing your personal bank account. Another way is to set good passwords for your emails or social media accounts. The passwords should be at least 8 to 12 characters long, including uppercase and lower case alphabets, numeric and even unique characters. 

Internet users and businesses should also install antivirus on their computers and update it regularly. When receiving a suspicious email, do not attempt to click on it and delete it immediately. Most importantly, installing a good firewall would monitor incoming and outgoing network traffic. The firewall will decide on whether to block specific traffic based on a set of security rules. This is extremely useful for businesses to protect themselves against cyberattacks.