Cyber Security Awareness is Essential – Stay Safe Online!

These days your safety and security is affected by cyber crime as well as physical break ins, car crashes and natural disasters. In this time of huge technological growth it is essential to understand cyber security, what your risks are and how to keep yourself, your family and your business safe from a cyber attack.

Hacking, malware, phishing and scams are plentiful online and a very real threat to you, your family and your business.

Here are some ways to stay safe online:

1 Password Safety

Don’t use the same passwords for different accounts, the risk is too great since if one account is breached hackers will have access to all your accounts.

Create strong passwords that are not easily guessed or hacked. It is a great idea to use a password manager such as LastPass to create unique and strong passwords for all your accounts. LastPass will also save all your passwords and keep them safe for you. You then only need to remember one password – your LastPass password.

2 Watch What You Click, Open and Download

It can take just one click to compromise your security. Don’t open any suspicious looking attachments or emails and be very careful what links you click on.

Make sure only to download apps from from trusted app stores and ensure to first read the reviews.

3 Protect Your Personal Information

Never give out your personal information to anyone you don’t know, or to anyone that claims to be from a reputable company. Keep your full name, identity number/ social security number, address, banking details and any other information private.

If anyone contacts you claiming to be from your bank or another reputable company (even if their email address appears to be from that company) rather end the communication and contact that company yourself.

Remember your bank will never ask you for your PIN code.

Protecting your personal information also includes social networks, keep your privacy settings high and don’t share everything and anything online. This is dangerous.

4 Protect Your Devices

Get a strong antivirus for your devices to protect against spam, malware and viruses. For your home or work connection ensure that you have a password-protected router so that your data is encryted.

It is also recommended to use a firewall to block all unauthorized access to all your devices, including webcams and smart tvs. Remember that anything that connects to the internet can be hacked so all devices must be protected.

Ensure that your mobile phone and tablet is also protected.

5 Be Wary Of External Wifi

If you are often on the road and connect to wifi connections it is recommended to use a VPN (virtual private network) to connect securely. Keep in mind that public wifi connections are usually not secure, which means that anyone can easily access your information.

If you don’t have a VPN then make sure not to log into your online banking through a public connection, rather wait until you are home to use your own connection.

6 Stay Informed and Up To Date

Technology is growing in leaps and bounds and the way that you can be hacked, scammed and attacked online is also changing constantly. One of your best ways to keep safe is to stay up to date.

7 Get Cyber Insurance

Let’s face it, no matter what you do there is still a chance that you may fall victim to a cyber attack. Having insurance certainly won’t protect you from becoming a victim but it will help you to recover from a cyber attack.

King Price Insurance is ahead of the game and, in addition to some amazing insurance products (like their unique car insurance), has recently launched Cybersure – cyber insurance for businesses. It provides insurance cover for business computer systems, software and data, liability arising from cyber attacks and loss of income.

They will launch a personal cyber insurance product in 2018, so keep your eyes open.

To test your cyber security knowledge and stand in line to win a share of R1 million in Bitcoin, King Price has developed a super fun online game.

You can play from 8 October 2017 until 28 February 2018. Play all 3 levels and you will be put into the random draw to be chosen as a finalist. 8 Finalists will play a live knock out round to determine the 3 final winners.

Click here to play!