Cyber Security and Privacy in the Digital Age - 10 Threats and 10 Solutions.

Charles Darwin the famous English Naturalist and Geologist has said that

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change”

The digital age had uplifted human efficiency to a new level which has not been at any point in history. The digital age has provided real-time data which helps individuals and business, this data is at high velocity, varsity, and volume. At the same time data is getting originated by the internet of things, Mobile, tablets, Personal computer, laptops, servers. Along with the great benefits that come with digital there is also need for caution to protect personal data.

I am going to highlight 10 every day threat we face to our security and privacy and 10 Solutions.

Our Security and Privacy is threatened in the following Ten ways:

1.      Virus, Malware, and Ransomware in PC and computers.

2.      Outbound Spam emails.

3.      Mobile devices

3.1.   Mobile devices used in public unsecured network.

3.2.   Connecting Mobile device for power in public places using a data cable.

4.      Man, in middle attack like:

4.1.   Session Hijacking.

4.2.   SQL Injection.

5.      Sharing sensitive data over the phone.

6.     Sharing password, brute force attacks or being uncareful with a password like writing the password at the place where everyone can see or using a weak password.

7.   Social Engineering: Social media contacts with fake accounts or compromised social media accounts or bots.

8.      Identity Theft: Email or social media identity theft.

9.      Insider threat: the threat from disgruntled employees.

10.  Trusted software: We use many software and hardware, we need to be careful with corrupted or software with bugs in them which can affect data privacy.

The Ten Solutions are as follows:

1.      Use an appropriate antivirus software.

2.      Never use auto selected public network on your smart phone but instead manually choose a public network.

3.      Try to connect to a  public network on a WAP2 network protocol.

4.      Never transfer critical or confidential data in public network, especially banking information

5.      Always opt for an https rather than HTTP, this means is encrypted to help mitigate session hijacking to an extent. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) for secure communication over a computer network and is widely used on the Internet. In HTTPS, the communication protocol is encrypted using Transport Layer Security (TLS), or formerly, its predecessor, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).

6.      Never share confidential information on Social media.

7.      Always use trusted software or hardware provided by the trusted source.

8.      Always download and use the trusted application on mobile phones.

9.      Configure you WIFI device on WAP2 protocol and have a strong password.

10.   Use a strong password for your social media or email accounts and be careful with your password, do not share or do not write your password on sticker note. If possible use anti-glare screen.

Baton Gellman the American Journalist and best-selling author has said 

‘Privacy and encryption work, but it's too easy to make a mistake that exposes you.’