[CyberSecurity] Have you ever been pwned? Protect yourself from cyberattacks.

[irfan_pak10]

Do you know bitcointalk was compromised, and your data were leaked in May 2015?

I was taking a course at IFRC on cybersecurity and thought of sharing some details from it with you people on how you can be able to protect from cyber-attacks. I hope it might help you in some cases. All the best.

And before you start reading, Please go to this website: https://haveibeenpwned.com/ and check if you have ever been hacked?

Background
What is cybersecurity to you? It is protecting your important data and your personal information from hackers and fraudsters.

It is one of the very real problems and anyone  becomes the target of Cyber Attacks. Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that a business will fall victim to a ransomware attack this year every 14 seconds.  Cybercrime costs organisations $13 million per year on average, according to an Accenture global study. By 2021, damages from cybercrime are expected to reach $6 trillion USD annually.

Defending yourself against the hackers and other ethereal digital monsters of the Internet doesn't have to be stressful or a laborious chore of following complicated rules. Just a little discipline, common sense, and vigilance, and you will be able to reduce your chances of being a victim of cybercrime significantly.


How to prevent yourself from cyber attack?

1. Use a strong password
Set strong, unique passwords for each account
Use three to four words
Use special characters and numbers
Do not share or reuse passwords
Must use 2FA

2. Try not to open phishing emails
Try not to open emails which say click here to see more details.
Check the reply-to address
If in doubt, contact the "sender" directly

3. Avoid posting any content which may lead to exposing your details
Don't post personal information or your current or future location
Set your privacy settings as high as possible.
Only add people you know.

4. Avoid connecting hardware devices which you have no idea where they come from
Only use hardware issued by your organization.
Do not use USB sticks given out at trade shows or found on the floor.
Take responsibility for unattended devices or sensitive information.

5. Try not to connect with public wifi
Be aware of who can see sensitive data on your screen.
Avoid using public wifi.

6. Update your software ASAP
Keep your software up-to-date.
Do not download or open files from unknown sources.
Do not install unauthorized software on your corporate devices.

In general please Remember
Cybercrime is a big issue, which grows larger every year.
We all have a responsibility to take the necessary security precautions.
Technology alone cannot stop cybersecurity.


[Source: Content of this article taken from IFRC (International federation of red cross and red crescent society.)]

[Coyster]

2. Try not to open phishing emails

People can also avoid receiving this emails by not giving out their email addresses unknowingly to scammers, either when they register for airdrops, scam ico, fake giveaways, signing up on dubious websites etc. They leave their address open to receive phishing emails, blackmails and even threats from scammers when they do. So they should always protect their email addresses.

[Yogee]

This article is also great to read https://www.troyhunt.com/the-impact-of-have-i-been-pwned-on-data/
Hackers makes a lot of money from selling personal data alone.

I also searched for other website that helps check if emails have been leaked and here they are
- https://breachalarm.com/
- https://monitor.firefox.com/
- https://sitecheck.sucuri.net/
- https://spycloud.com/
- https://www.dehashed.com/


Can you also add using throwaway emails for websites that you do not completely trust or visit that often?

[hatshepsut93]

Do you know bitcointalk was compromised, and your data were leaked in May 2015?

Most users weren't around 5 years ago.

And before you start reading, Please go to this website: https://haveibeenpwned.com/ and check if you have ever been hacked?

It doesn't check if the user was hacked, it checks if a service that the user registered with was hacked at some point, and the users personal data ended up being stolen.

1. Use a strong password
Set strong, unique passwords for each account
Use three to four words
Use special characters and numbers
Do not share or reuse passwords
Must use 2FA

Special characters, multiple words, etc. - in the end it's still human generated, so it's to some extent predictable. The best thing you can do is to use a password manager, even the one that comes with the browser (as long as it's not synced with cloud) will do the job. Password managers generate truly random passwords with enough entropy.

5. Try not to connect with public wifi
Be aware of who can see sensitive data on your screen.
Avoid using public wifi.

Sometimes people have no choice, especially in emergency. But you can mitigate the danger of public wifi if you only visit the sites with https, since it means that your connection will be encrypted.

[irfan_pak10]

Most users weren't around 5 years ago.

That's good for them, But I was one of them 

Sometimes people have no choice, especially in emergency. But you can mitigate the danger of public wifi if you only visit the sites with https, since it means that your connection will be encrypted.

In that case, use VPN, It will somehow manage to protect you from getting hacked. Secondly, you can always use mobile network data if possible.

[DireWolfM14]

In this day and age one would think this stuff should be common knowledge by now, but it's not.  I was having a discussion with my college student daughter about cyber security the other day, and she said something that made by blood curl.  She said "I just search for what I want, and pick the top Google result because I know it's safe."   

I just about shit a brick wall when she said that.  All this time I thought I was a good father, preparing my children for the worst that the world could throw at them.  I guess I failed in the internet security department.  The other thing she said that made my ears blow steam; "I don't have to worry about viruses because I use a mac."  At this point my anus is manufacturing bricks at a rate that would make Donald Trump proud.

I grew up with computers from before the internet was a household word.  All this stuff seems like second nature to me, and maybe that's why I take it for granted that people should know this stuff.

I also searched for other website that helps check if emails have been leaked and here they are
- https://breachalarm.com/
- https://monitor.firefox.com/
- https://sitecheck.sucuri.net/
- https://spycloud.com/
- https://www.dehashed.com/

I wouldn't be so trusting with these sites.  Wouldn't it be the perfect ploy to dupe people into giving them their email addresses under the guise of checking if they've been leaked, only to then sell them to spammers and scammers?

[irfan_pak10]

In this day and age, one would think this stuff should be common knowledge by now, but it's not.  I was discussing with my college student daughter about cyber security the other day, and she said something that made by blood curl.  She said "I just search for what I want, and pick the top Google result because I know it's safe."   

I just about shit a brick wall when she said that.  All this time I thought I was a good father, preparing my children for the worst that the world could throw at them.  I guess I failed in the internet security department.  The other thing she said that made my ears blow steam; "I don't have to worry about viruses because I use a mac."  At this point my anus is manufacturing bricks at a rate that would make Donald Trump proud.

I grew up with computers from before the internet was a household word.  All this stuff seems like second nature to me, and maybe that's why I take it for granted that people should know this stuff.

I have been in the same era when I use to clean my PC with anti-viruses I use to use avast mostly as it seemed to be the best at that time. And at that time, our PC got infected with the virus even with the smell of it, as someone is passing by and carrying a USB device with a virus  .  But since technology is evolving and people are coming up with new and brilliant ideas, and so are the hackers. I believe we have to educate people about the knowledge we have. And, as I was doing some volunteering courses at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and came-up with this course which I thought I should have to post it here, as of my first action towards becoming a volunteer.

I also searched for other website that helps check if emails have been leaked and here they are
- https://breachalarm.com/
- https://monitor.firefox.com/
- https://sitecheck.sucuri.net/
- https://spycloud.com/
- https://www.dehashed.com/

I wouldn't be so trusting with these sites.  Wouldn't it be the perfect ploy to dupe people into giving them their email addresses under the guise of checking if they've been leaked, only to then sell them to spammers and scammers?

Exactly, I mentioned, "have I been pwned" in the OP as I thought an international organization provided it, it might be secure, but I know deep down its not safe to put my email down there.

[bladeofblood1]

To add:

1) check on haveibeenpwnd.com

2) do a google search, bing-fu (bing.com) and yahoo search to see if your email shows up in a pastebin.com or paste2.com post

these are quick and EXTREMELY helpful!

[irfan_pak10]

To add:

1) check on haveibeenpwnd.com

2) do a google search, bing-fu (bing.com) and yahoo search to see if your email shows up in a pastebin.com or paste2.com post

these are quick and EXTREMELY helpful!

That's great.