PROTECT YOURSELF FROM HACK ATTACKS

Your computer has lots of personal information on it. Would you be happy if an unknown person had full access to it? Even worse, what if they were able to watch you while you were online and learn all about where you bank, who your friends are and more? It is possible to make sure that you are protected...

In the last few months, there have been several incidences of high-profile hacking incidents. Large companies and government organisations have been hacked, and the information obtained has been leaked to the public by so-called 'hacktivist' groups like Lulzsec or Anonymous. Lulzsec have even attempted to warn us all that we really aren't that safe - in a recent public post they say:

Do you think every hacker announces everything they've hacked? We certainly haven't, and we're damn sure others are playing the silent game. Do you feel safe with your Facebook accounts, your Google Mail accounts, your Skype accounts? What makes you think a hacker isn't silently sitting inside all of these right now, sniping out individual people, or perhaps selling them off? You are a peon to these people. A toy. A string of characters with a value. This is what you should be fearful of, not us releasing things publicly, but the fact that someone hasn't released something publicly.

If large organisations are unable to protect themselves from hackers, how safe are we? There are a few schools of thought on this. One approach is to assume that there is nothing that you can do, and thus make sure that you do not keep any sensitive information on any computer or website. This would mean not doing internet banking, using email, online shopping, chatting with your kids on Skype... You would have to give up most of the advantages that the internet provides you. This is certainly an option, albeit a bitter pill for us to swallow.Then there is a second approach where you simply don't worry about it. Maybe you will be hacked, or maybe you won't. You don't know and you aren't that concerned. Unfortunately this approach will not pay off in the long run, as identity theft is on the rise, and a growing number of people are having their lives drastically affected.

Or you can try and have a bit of both - use all the modern conveniences, take all the reasonable precautions that you can, and enjoy using your computer and the internet. Your lack of fame will generally limit you from being a target (hackers won't target you when they can target high-profile people, right?).All of these approaches are inherently flawed - you really cannot guarantee anything - however assuming that you want to stay connected to the rest of the world, let's quickly refresh what you should be doing to stay safe online.

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