Nobody wants to get hacked. Whether you’re a business owner or just an average Joe, the thought of some mysterious figure gaining access to your data and personal information is scary. The worst part? It can be hard to know how to stop them. Luckily (or maybe unluckily) for you, individual human error is most often the reason for a cyber-attack. We aren’t blaming you – cyber-attacks can happen to anyone! However, if you read this blog and implement our tips into your daily life, your chances of being hacked will be SIGNIFICANTLY reduced. Here are our tips to keep yourself safe from hackers in 2022

1) Change Your Password At least every six months

You hear this all the time. It gets repetitive and boring and you’re probably sick of it. But have you ever stopped and wondered WHY you hear it all the time? It’s because it really is an important tip. Your password is the first line of defense against hackers. In fact, you would ideally use a password manager to generate and store unique passwords.  This way your password would be something ridiculous like ‘Qi2ou598p34q8RuPq9u39qr’ and your password management program would remember it for you. Passwords like this are next to impossible to guess. Our world is increasingly digital and increasingly interconnected, so these threats aren’t going away anytime soon. 

Want to see how long it would take for your password to get compromised?

2) Multi-Factor Authentication 

What is multi-factor authentication? It is basically the idea that you need 2 or more steps to log into your account. Normally, you punch in a password and you’re good to go. However, this can be easy for a hacker to break into. All they have to do is figure out 1 password. However, with multi-factor authentication, you’ll need multiple steps. For example, you could type in your password and then get a push notification on your phone that you would need to approve. Or you would have to type in your password and then answer a question of some sort. Really, it could be anything. However, this simple step basically doubles your login security and adds almost no extra work for you.

While this may seem like a lot of extra, tiresome work upfront, it only takes a few extra seconds to log in. I’m sure you would rather deal with that than have to deal with getting hacked. Combining multi-factor authentication with the stronger passwords we mentioned earlier, your login security will be airtight. 

3) Avoid Suspicious Links (aka Phishing)

More than 90% of successful cyber-attacks start with phishing. Phishing is defined as ‘an attempt by cybercriminals posing as legitimate institutions, usually via email or text message, to obtain sensitive information from targeted individuals.’ Phishing attempts can appear like they are coming from anywhere. However, they are generally designed to appear to come from a trusted group, your bank, your boss, or even your credit card company. These types of attacks are easy to produce on a mass scale. Emails or texts can be sent to thousands of people every minute. If these attacks are successful, hackers will have access to your accounts and information.  Once hackers have your information, they can use it on legitimate sites.   If it’s a link you don’t recognize, trust your instincts, and think before you click. 

4) Keep your software up to date

Nobody likes it when their devices keep hounding them about the newest update. If you’re anything like me, you tend to generally ignore these notifications. “Remind me later.” However, this can pose a massive risk for you. Bad actors will exploit flaws in the system. Keeping your software up to date will greatly reduce the chances of a cyber-attack. In fact, turn on automatic updates.   Don’t just update the operating system on your mobile phones, tablets, and laptops.  Make sure to update your applications – especially the web browsers – on all your devices too.   

5) Invest in Anti-Virus Software

These days, you can’t go a single day without hearing news about a certain virus spreading around the world. Similarly, you wouldn’t want a virus wreaking havoc on your devices! Viruses can affect anything from desktop computers to phones, to personal laptops. They are bad news. Luckily, there are plenty of rock-solid antivirus software out there. Each one has different pros and cons, but the important thing is just investing in one. This software may cost you a small chunk of cash at the beginning, but it has the potential to save you a ton of money in the future. 

6) Back Up Your Data

Let’s imagine a worst-case scenario. You have been hacked. Your data has been stolen. It’s all gone… Until you remember that you backed it all up at the beginning of the month. What could have been a life-changing incident has maybe only set you back a couple of weeks. Backing up your data is so important. It may seem like a waste of time or storage space, but you’ll be happy to have those backups if you are to ever lose anything significant. 

These are just 6 basic tips to keep yourself from hackers. These are tips that would be easy to implement for anyone. However, you can trust us when we say that these tips will go a long way to keep you safe. Why can you trust us? Simple: here at Aspis, we are the cybersecurity experts. We produce weekly blogs and multiple social media posts every week across our various channels to help people like you; regular people who want to step up their cybersecurity game. 

Did you like these tips to keep yourself safe from hackers in 2022? Want to learn more?

Who is Aspis?

Aspis is an IT professional services firm headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri specializing in cybersecurity and management consulting. Aspis strives to make enterprise cybersecurity solutions and professional services accessible to all sizes of organizations from small to medium-sized businesses to large Fortune 500 enterprises; non-profits; and municipal, state, and federal government agencies. Our values are Integrity, Community, and Diversity.

Aspis’ vision is to democratize cybersecurity. This means that through our mission we strive to make enterprise cybersecurity solutions, IT professional services, and administrative and management consulting services accessible to all sizes of organizations from small and medium-sized businesses to large Fortune 500 enterprises; non-profits; and local, state, and federal government agencies. We right-size our enterprise products and services for the SMB market so they are affordable.

With the additional locations of Duluth, Minnesota, and Washington, DC Aspis has grown to become a national brand and has helped businesses of all sizes with their cybersecurity needs. Our team offers a full suite of services including cybersecurity management consulting; compliance assessments; security awareness training; and dark web monitoring to both our commercial and government clients. Our organization has been featured in publications including Forbes, IBM, and the US Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, Aspis is a Certified HUBZone Small Business, Certified LGBTBE, and Certified Virginia Values Veterans company. https://aspis.consulting

Worried about your business and Russian cyberattacks? To learn more about how Aspis can help you with your cybersecurity or administrative needs check out our website. Also, follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We post things to stay up to date on cybersecurity news, company updates, and need-to-know tips.