Cyber experts advise maintaining cyber hygiene for a bundle of reasons. The primary purpose of maintaining good cyber hygiene is reducing the risk of a malware attack. On average, out of the most prevalent hacking methods, launching malware attacks is one of the most preferred means that hackers use to breach the security layers of IoT devices. Since it’s not easy to locate a hidden malware, and for a fact that hackers have been doing strong modifications to existing malware types to transform them into something more lethal, these are one of the worst threats for mobile workforces and computer users globally.

Companies suffer losses worth millions of dollars annually to hacking, and yet, some people fail to understand the importance of adopting stringent cybersecurity techniques. If you’re, however, someone unwilling to take a risk, the following strategies will help in mitigating the risk of online security breaches to a great extent.

1. Backdoor Password – For as long as cybercrime shall exist, so would the importance of a backdoor password. Use something unique – a combination of 12 to 20 complex characters – for all devices connected to the internet. Do the same for your email accounts and make sure that no device or email account share the same password.
2. Follow Protocols – Use only company-approved software types as an employee since those software types are well-maintained and guarded by experts. Using anything outside the protocol will put your devices and that of the company at the risk of malware attack.
3. Install Updates – This is by far the most recommended, yet ignored, aspect of cybersecurity. Software manufacturers provide updates by fixing bugs from the earlier versions. Not upgrading to the updated version will make your software obsolete and buggy. And those are the kinds of software that hackers target.
4. Use Scanning Tools – Individual users should use account and cloud scanning tools to ensure that their email accounts and the cloud are not (and never were) compromised. Organizations, on the other hand, should run scans on every open source code before applying it on any new or existing software to be upgraded.
5. Hire Ethical Hackers – Ethical hackers work against the dark forces of the web by identifying software vulnerabilities before they can be misused. You can either run bug-bounty programs on a personal level to locate good ethical hackers or approach a third-party company to find them for you.

To conclude, not one but all of these techniques are required when it comes to fighting different modes of hacking.

David Cury