The Basics of Hacking

Hacking is a term that refers to using different techniques and methods to breach security protocols and gain unauthorized access to digital devices, systems or networks.

Who is Your Enemy?

As the saying goes: “know your enemy”. This principle applies to hacking too. In order to protect yourself and your digital assets, you should be familiar with the types of hackers out on the prowl.

Black Hat Hackers are the bad guys who use their skills to steal, damage, or harm others. While there’s nothing inherently bad about hacking, these guys exploit vulnerabilities with the intent to cause damage.

White hat hackers are the good guys. They use their hacking powers for good, by strengthening system security, filling vulnerabilities, and ensuring the safety of digital assets.

Why Do They Hack?

Knowledge is power and hackers have fleeced a lot of valuable data based on what people unwittingly shared about themselves. With data, time and skill they could use attacks to take over accounts or networks where private information, intellectual property, or bank savings may lie.

How to Protect Yourself

It’s important to know the potential risks and how to prevent them:

• Keep software and firmware updated on all digital devices
• Stay away from sketchy sites and downloads as malware can infect when its guard is let down.
• Enable two factor authentication (2FA) to harden your account login security.
• Always back up information to local safe-keeping as the last precaution if an unwelcome experience should happen again.

Conclusion

Protecting yourself on the internet these days can feel uncertain because we’re always relied upon cloud service companies to keep things safe. In short, be aware of actions that increase a risk towards being victimized and the game would be much safer to play.