Various Methods Hackers Use to Access your Data

Many Internet users are completely unaware that by accessing the World Wide Web they are immediately putting themselves at risk of being hacked. An Internet connection can be an open door to a hacker, and just because your data might be password protected, that doesn’t mean it can’t be hacked.

Here are just a few of the methods hackers use to steal digital data.

The Honey Trap

When a person asks you if they can use your computer for a few minutes, it might be innocent enough, or it might be someone who is armed with a memory stick and all they need is 3 minutes to copy the virus onto your hard drive, and the rest, as they say, is history. Once the malicious file is safely installed on your hard drive, it will do whatever it is designed for, which might be to destroy all the data at a certain time on a certain date, or it could be to report back all usage from that moment on. The only way to really prevent this happening is to stand behind the person using your computer, or, of course, refuse access. How to prevent all cyber-attacks? Simply consult a Sydney based ethical hacking and penetration testing service, who will test your network for security, and once they have set up cyber security, you can rest assured that your data is protected.

The Numbers Game

There is software that will continually generate passwords until they get it right, and when you think about it, if the virus is creating thousands of passwords per second, they will eventually hit on your password. This type of virus is usually transported as an email attachment, which, when double clicked, will execute and start trying to guess all your passwords. There are a few more ways that hackers get into your data on different online references, which makes for interesting reading.

Social Media Engineering

This is a very clever one, as it will send social media messages to your friends, pretending to be you and asking for some help in the form of money, giving an account number for you to send them some emergency help. Many people fall for this and send the money without question. If a person has 300 Facebook friends, even if only 5 send money, that’s good enough for the cyber thief. A popular way to do this is to entice a user to click on a malicious link, and when they do, a password finder is installed in the background and once they have your social media login details, they can send messages from you to your friends.

Protecting confidential data from hackers is like a cat and mouse game, with the hackers finding a loophole, which is then plugged by the cyber-security expert, and then another one and so on. The game never ends, and if you want to be one step ahead of cyber-criminals, join forces with an established cyber-security expert, who will make sure that you are never the victim of a cyber-attack.