What is Firewall? Why do we need it?

Protect your PC with a firewall

If your PC is connected to the Internet, you are a potential focus for a variety of digital dangers such as keyloggers, hackers and Trojans. This means that if you like most other people shop and bank online then you are vulnerable to a great amount of identity theft and other malicious attacks.

A firewall works as a hindrance  between your PC and cyber space. When you are connected to the internet you are continuously sending and receiving some sort of data. The firewall filters these small units of information to meet the certain criteria. This restricts hackers from getting inside our PC and steal our confidential & personal data.

Firewalls helps to decide between the authorized and the unauthorized data

There are some firewalls that only monitor incoming traffic by default.  This may give us a false security and will not help you to remain fully protected. This may give a false security. One should keep in mind that outgoing traffic with your credit card information, bank account numbers and passwords is not protected. A good firewall will monitor the outgoing as well as the incoming traffic, keeping all your private information secure. 

Most sophisticated firewalls also include a feature that continuously updates the list of the applications that are good and the ones that are malicious. This way your computer protection is always up to date and the chances for a cyber threat is reduced.

Although a firewall provides protection to keep your PC safe from unauthorized access, it cannot remove malware from an already infected system. Therefore, a firewall should be used in connection with other proactive measures, such as anti-malware software in order to strengthen your resistance to attacks.

Tips for creating a strong password

Keep strong password to protect yourself against cyber attacks

Passwords give the principal line of protection against unapproved access to your PC. The stronger your password, the more protected and secure it will be from cyber criminals. You should ensure that you have strong passwords for all your accounts. In case you are using a corporate network, your administrator may require you to use a strong password.

Keep in mind the following points when creating a password:

·         Make sure that the password you are planning to set is at least eight characters long.

·         It should not contain your username, date of birth, company name, etc.

·         Do not use a complete word, making it easy for hackers to crack.

·         Should be different from the earlier passwords

In order to protect your account from being a target of hackers, you should set up a password that is a combination of uppercase, lowercase, alphabets, numbers and symbols.

Many a times there are passwords that meet all the criteria of a strong password but are still considered to be weak and can be guessed easily as it may contain a full word.

For example, Hello2u! is a wonderful password as it is a mixture of all the requirements but is still considered to be weak as it contains the whole word hello in it. Instead H3ello 2 u! can be a much better option as this contains a number and some space rather than the whole word being used altogether.

Thus these are a few steps that you need to follow in order to keep your accounts safe. If you feel that you will not remember your password then it can be written down at a safe place but make sure you do not write password on top of it, making it all the more easy for someone to trace. Another great advice to keep your accounts safe is to change all your passwords every few months. Your password should be kept in such a way that it becomes a sort of mystery for others. 

Obviously, all such topics can be solved if the above mentioned steps are followed and you create super strong passwords.

Your Mobile Phone is a serious threat that must be secured!

Your Mobile Phone can be a great target for Cybercriminals

Cell phones have constrained a radical movement in the way individuals manage their everyday exercises and how associations benefit their clients through the use of this device. Earlier, one could easily find out a difference between internet, intranet and the internal corporate network. In today’s technology driven world, be it small or big cell phones conveying information, sending messages, social networking, gaming, downloading, etc all has become very easy. This has opened doors for cybercriminals.

As per reports, we can see that the supply of the number of smartphones has exceeded that of desktop and PCs. Nowadays, mobile phones are available in different prizes and models that are easy to afford. These devices can be used for different purposes, including sending and receiving electronic mail, storing documents and preparing presentations, storing data and more.

Even before the advent of smartphones, malicious programs and viruses were recognized as a threat for mobile devices. There are several applications that have come up which allow users to view and manipulate the financial accounts and shopping accounts which are linked up to credit cards that have become a common place for hackers. You can become a target by simply getting a text message or malicious software that is already installed on your device. The number of malware attacks is increasing at an alarming rate.

With less education about mobile threats and lack of security on these devices, users seem more inclined to become victims. Moreover, there is increase in issues from applications that upload malware. This opens opportunities for internet monsters to use these apps to install a backdoor on such devices for their own selfish purpose such as sending spam emails or recording keystrokes to record personal and financial details. Here are some reasons why mobile devices are particularly susceptible to attacks:

1.       Some applications are already installed in the mobile devices through third parties, this makes it susceptible to the distribution of malware. There is no proof of what applications they have installed, is it genuine or not.

2.       There are no default browser permission rules in a mobile device. This makes it all the more vulnerable to malware attacks.

3.       Users often check their emails on mobile devices and the no restriction of mobile browsers make it all the more difficult to identify which ones are the fraudulent sites. This increases the risk of your device being attacked.

Follow these steps to enhance your mobile security and keep your data protected:

      1.   Use strong and effective passwords. Make sure to change them regularly.

2    2.  Keep back up of all your important data and encrypt all the important and sensitive data so that it is not misused.

3    3. Use an updated and powerful Antivirus and Anti Malware software that will keep your device protected from all kinds of malicious threats.

      4. Think before you click, download or open an attachment. No matter how tempting an application looks, make sure to download it from the app store or from any trusted website otherwise just leave and walk away.

Expert Tips to Avoid becoming a victim of Ransomware

How to avoid being a victim of Ransomware!

The use of internet is increasing at a fast pace, opening large number of doors for the internet monsters. Big organisations and government agencies are moving towards a digitized world which leads to greater risk for them, making them vulnerable to cyber attacks. Survey shows that an increased number of ransomware attacks have been taking place over the past few years. Such incidents display a clear trend that malware attackers are steadily shifting to serious money making through ransomware attacks. Ransomware is seen to be a highly money making mechanism over the last few years.

Big businesses and local governments have been the recent targets of ransomware and are expected to be targeted in the future. Also, everyday users of the internet like us are also targets of ransomware. Most of our sensitive data is stored on our PCs that can be traced by these cyber criminals who use it in order to blackmail users and demand for ransom in order to get back your data.

At REVE Antivirus, users are proactive to protect themselves from threats rather than being a target of these cybercriminals and agreeing to all their terms. Criminals are looking for new ways to get into the wallets of hard working folks. What should users do to make sure that they do not become a victim of ransomware? Follow these simple tips to protect yourself against ransomware:

BACKUP AND KEEP DATA SECURE

We live in a computerized age where we are putting away everything from our personal documents to professional ones over our devices. If anything happens with your device, you will lose all your data. Thus it is important that you store your data on the cloud so that it can be retrieved even if you lose it. To be a little safer, make sure to save all your important data on external drives as well like USB drives, hard drives etc.  In case of ransomware, securing your data offline is extremely important.

Update Regularly

Do you often get pop up messages giving you update notifications but you hardly pay attention to them? Then be active and make this as your priority. Regular system update is very important if you want to keep your sensitive data secure. These updates help you to get rid of vulnerabilities that are found on your system. At times, it seems to be a pain to install the latest windows update. But neglecting them can result in your system being vulnerable to attackers who look to destroy it completely and provide maximum harm.

Have a security Software

Installing good antivirus software helps you to keep your PC protected from all kinds of malicious threats such as worms, virus and Trojans. Antivirus software comes up with high end solutions such as advanced scan engine, parental control, websecurity and more. When a type of ransomware is found in your system and you have an antivirus software installed in your PC, it can stop you from clicking a link or opening up a malicious file that it detects. Mobile phones could be more at danger given the amount of personal information that is stored in it.

Disconnect from Wi-Fi or unplug immediately

Many a times you suspect a file to have ransomware present, but you are not sure about it. The best way to protect yourself is to disconnect yourself from the network immediately this might mitigate the damage. It takes a lot of time to encrypt your files, so you may be able to stop it before it succeeds in damaging them completely. This technique is not seen to be completely secure or you may not be fortunate enough to move more rapidly in protecting your data than the malware, however disconnecting from the network might be a much better option rather than doing nothing at all.

Ransomware certainly is seen to be very frightening, but related to it, there are many problems that can cause a lot of destruction. Thus it is always the best practice to protect oneself against loss of data with regular backups. This way, no matter what happens you will not be losing your sensitive data and can start it all back as before. Thus, the best way to fight against ransomware is to act as an active internet user and enhance your knowledge about it and keep yourself away from becoming a target.