Protect Yourself from Cyber Attacks – Step 1

How to Protect Yourself from Cyber Attacks – Step 1

To be Secure & Stay Safe on Internet from Cyber Attacks with your computer is easy after reading this. So Protect Yourself from Cyber Attacks with Step 1.

Using a computer or a laptop connected on Internet and be secure with all those Cyber threats could means many things to think about to protect ourselves. I will present you some basic step to look at and to pay attention.

Today’s activities on Internet, working with all these private, personal or confidential information, it’s a must to be secure and keep our computer safe while working with your data information by using Information Technology (IT).

Definition

First, let’s define the words « Cyber Security« . I will keep it simple… It refers to the origin of a threat that is introduced via Cyberspace rather than a physical and local attack. So, we focus on the preservation of Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability which are the key concept of data information security that is or could be affect within or from the Cyberspace.

Ransomware context

Many of us already heard about some one who lost its data or had to pay to get it back. 

And now, as you know, you certainly don’t want to face any ransomware and get all your data encrypted or lost. Read my Ramsomware Blog to know more about what it is. Now  let’s see what to do to be secure and to keep your computer in a safe state while surfing on Internet.

Some Social Hash key : #CyberSecurity #ThinkB4UClick #Ransomware

By the way, the danger is not only limited to big organisations and businesses but also to contractors and individuals like you and me. We may also be at risk if we do not pay attention and do not do some important activities.

The idea here is to focus on some basic steps and concepts first. Some of these are known only from very advise users and other by many of us. But now, you will know more about it.

After many years of IT experience, now I find some of these as regular step to do and to know to a computer safe while working and exchanging data on Internet even with these Cyber Threats and #CyberAttack.

You heard about it, and now for sure you don’t want to be victim or one-of-a-kind for #WannaCry #Ransomware.

So, let’s go through these, one by one…

Device and OS integrity including Updates

Working on a safe Device and Operating Systems (OS) should be the first step.

The reason is simple, if you have any malware or bad software installed in, your whole environment is at risk. Make sure you are using a safe device first. So how do I know if I have a secure device?

Device 

Does the device need any firmware updates? Check it out ! It is a step that many forget about and over time, your device could be exposed to security exploits. So, proceed with some validations from your vendor’s website. When updating you device, do pay attention to the ReadMe file from the vendor. Always use the firmware binary source from the vendor and validate the file integrity with these kind of checksum or hashing tools. (MD5 / SHA / else…)

Operating System

Now validate if the OS is safe. Safe means you’re SURE the Operating Systems (OS) is free of any malware or software installed from unknown sources. If you don’t feel safe enough from the current state of your device… Then, proceed to a fresh install with safe installation sources.

Also, install all the recommended OS updates, including security patches from the vendor. Don’t forget the ones from all your installed software. (e.q. : Ms Office updates or else). An essential part of protecting a machine from being attacked is to keep up to date with patches through vendors updates. You don’t want to live an attack exploit like #Adylkuzz or #WannaCry, so install the updates.

If you find that it took long to bring your environment back to a safe state from the last two steps, feel free to take a snap shot or an image backup of the machine. You will save a lot of time next time. Also, you will be sure about the integrity of the machine from that point.

See you soon for the next Step …

Joel Dubois – Le CIO Virtuel sur LinkedIn