The Internet is ever expanding and could be called a continuum which is engulfing more information and thus providing more of it at an ever-increasing pace. It is the amount and nature of the information that is available on the internet which is a threat to each one who is on it, using it. There has been any number of cyber crimes some of which have had massive scale and this must be reason enough for you to judiciously measure a level of security that you are using to safeguard your computer, its data and all that valuable information that you exchange on a daily basis via the internet. Your digital companion might fail if you do not act right now. But why the hurry?

It has been highlighted time and again and in more than one way that browsers; we are using, applications that we are running are all man-made and hence have critical bugs in them. These can be hacked into and all that was “safe” suddenly becomes vulnerable to cyber attack. There is no software which cannot be compromised by someone who really intends to do so. People with malicious intentions have built up something called exploit kits. These kits are nothing but programs that you might accidentally land on and it takes away your security. It might appear to you as a simple web page and as a simple web page and minute you click on it, your PC becomes compromised and your system is now readily available to hackers to commit any kind your resources.

What is most vulnerable?

In the past few months, it has been researched that there are few kinds of documents or data types which are under more threat than others. Let us see what are these:

  • PowerPoint docs: Around October 2014 it was highlighted that a malicious PowerPoint document, which comes as an attachment to a spam email can put your system at risk. Remote hacker gets control of your system and can even escalate to become admin of system.
  • Malicious codes: Sometimes an unknown code might run on your system that might cause a buffer overflow which might develop into a security threat.
  • A malicious word doc: Sometimes if you open a malicious word document that came to you as an attachment in a spam mail, it just might be what the bad guy wants you to do as it gives him an access to a memory of your device and he might exploit it, just a way he wants.

How to avoid the vulnerabilities?

This sounds horrifying. To realize that there is any number of notorious hackers out there just waiting for you to click one wrong button can be a really disturbing thought. But the good news is that you can avoid getting stuck in such a situation and getting your system compromised. Let us see how:

  • When you are installing an add-on or a new app thinks twice. Be very specific about why you need it and do you really need it? Because each new app that you install is a potential hole in system security. So use only those add-on and app that you simply cannot do without. Also while installing be very careful as to which checkbox you check and which one you leave out.
  • Be very careful while sharing information via the internet. You never know, whom it might end up with.
  • Invest in a good security solution and you will sleep well.
  • Never go lazy when it comes to updating software. It is for your own good. Outdated versions are always more susceptible to attacks than the updated ones.
  • Your passwords need to be changed every now and then and please make them as strong as possible. Also, security experts advice to have different passwords for different applications and programs.

Keeping in mind these factors is sure to make your system and data far from being exploited. Stay safe!