Do you know how to protect yourself against hackers?

28 February 2020

The Danish national newspaper Jyllands-Posten asked for Zacco’s expert advice on how to stay secure online, as IT security is becoming more and more important in today’s digitalised world. Below we bring Regional Manager at Zacco Denmark and Sweden South in Cyber Security, Henrik Blas Simonsen’s eight easy-to-follow recommendations for how to protect your personal data and devices against IT criminals.

1. Consider the set-up of your internet router. Most routers allow access from all IP addresses, but if you don’t shop or do business in China or Russia – countries from which much IT crime originates – you likely would be safer if you filtered out IP addresses from those countries.
2. Avoid visiting website addresses, which start with HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). The safest websites to visit start with HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure).
3. Before you click on a link in an email, simply place the mouse on the link to see the internet address. Does it seem right? Does it correspond with the sender of the email? If not, don’t click!
4. Forget about how much it costs to protect yourself against hackers. There is a connection between price and quality. The cheapest virus programs often protect against known viruses and that is not always enough. Buy a firewall for more safety.
5. Download multi-factor authentication for your computer or smart phone from e.g. Google, which adds an extra layer of security.
6. Refrain from participating in so-called market surveys on social media. If you answer the question, “What is your pet’s name?” you have revealed and given up a word, which most likely is a part of your password.
7. Stop and think before you react to an alarming SMS from an unknown phone number. IT criminals will try to gain access to your smartphone and your personal information through text messages, which is a new phenomenon called smishing.
8. Don’t use a password more than once. Criminals share passwords and gain access to your personal data. Invent a system that helps you remember your password or use a password manager.

Want to know more?

Please get in touch with us, if you want to learn more about how we can help keep your personal data and all of your other intangible assets safe.   You can see all the services we offer, and find our entire cyber security service offering here.