By vladwel/Shutterstock.com
Personal devices are some of the greatest inventions that the world has ever seen. 20 years ago no one would have thought that you could find a device that is essentially a supercomputer that fits into your pocket. Technology has come an incredibly long way in such a short time, and there’s no doubt that it has made our lives much easier and more convenient than ever before. You can use your smartphone, laptop, or tablet to do just about anything, whether it’s doing thorough research on a specific topic, finding a movie or TV show to watch on a streaming platform, or even ordering food straight to your doorstep without having to talk to anyone else over the phone.
In combination with the internet, personal devices have given us some incredible experiences and capabilities over the years. However, there is a dark side of the internet that many people are unfortunately unaware of. There’s a dangerous layer of the internet that leaves our devices and our personal lives exposed. Whether you value privacy, money, or even just having a device of your own, everything is at risk of being taken away from you in the blink of an eye thanks to cybercrime. Cybercriminals are always on the hunt for new victims, and one of their greatest weapons is malicious software.
Malicious software, which is also known as malware for short, is one of the most dangerous threats that anyone could come across on the internet. Unfortunately, dangerous malware can be anywhere too. This means that there isn’t even an area of the internet where you can be safe and put your guard down. You need to constantly be aware of what’s happening on your browser and your device because once you fall victim to a devastating cyberattack, you’re going to suffer severe consequences. Luckily there is a way that you can protect your devices from these dangerous attacks — keep reading to get all the details on the malware you need to be aware of, and how you can keep your devices secure at all times.
Viruses
Malware comes in many different forms and types — this is why it’s such a broad topic to discuss. The first, and most common type of malware that you might come across is viruses. Once again, “viruses” is also a broad term. You have likely heard of computer viruses before, and you may even have come across them in the past.
Unlike their biological counterparts, computer viruses are man-made, and they are designed to do whatever their creators have programmed them to do. This means that you never know how dangerous a virus might be! It also means that you get different types of computer viruses. Viruses exist purely to frustrate their user — this is a range of different things such as sending hundreds of popup ads to their device or making their device run extremely slow. Other viruses are far more dangerous — some can be used to delete important files from your device, and there are even viruses that can corrupt your device’s operating software, rendering your device entirely useless.
It’s impossible to tell which type of virus you have on your device, so it’s always a good idea to assume the worst! Later on, we’re going to discuss how you can protect your devices from viruses!
Spyware
You might be wondering how hackers can put malware on your devices. It all comes down to phishing scams. This involves tricking the user into clicking on an illegitimate link that installs the malware on their device. These links can be found in fake emails, on social media platforms, or even on random websites on the internet — keep this in mind for later on!
The reason why it’s important to know about phishing scams is that this next form of malware helps cybercriminals to create more specific phishing scams that have better chances of tricking potential victims into clicking on the illegitimate links that are sent to them.
With spyware installed on someone’s device, cybercriminals can monitor their victim’s internet traffic and browsing history. This allows them to understand your browsing habits on the internet, whether that’s your geographic location, the bank you’re with, or even the business you shop at most.
They can use this information to create better phishing scams that you are more likely to fall for. This is known as social engineering — when cybercriminals pose as a person or company that you might know and trust. For example, they might send you an email posing as your local bank. In the email, they would use all the same colors and fonts, and even the same logo as your bank. Everything in the email would look identical to an email that you would receive from your bank.
They would urge you to click on an illegitimate link, often by creating a sense of emergency. For example, they might inform you that there is suspicious activity on your account and ask you to log in using a link in the email. Clicking on the link would lead to malware being installed on your device in the background, so you might never even know about it being there in the first place.
Ransomware
The most dangerous type of malware that you might run into is ransomware. This is the last form of malware that you want to see on your device because it causes the most damage. Ransomware has caused billions of dollars in damage worldwide over the past year alone!
Ransomware will encrypt important files and accounts on your device. Encrypted files cannot be accessed by anyone, and they will be locked with an encryption key or password that only cybercriminals have. The only way to remove the encryption or get access to the key is to pay an expensive ransom fee to the hackers.
The problem though is that even if you pay thousands of dollars to remove the encryption from your files, the hackers can choose to take the money and leave the encryption in place. In that case, you’re stuck with nowhere to go.
Hackers will always target critical files that you need such as sensitive files, business documents, or your piles. This ensures that you need to pay their ransom fee — making this an extremely successful cyber attack.
Keeping Your Devices Protected
Keeping your devices secure is easy though. All you need to do is install premium antivirus software on your device. This software is equipped with a library of known malware codes and applications. The software will constantly scan your device for any malware that it recognizes.
Once it has detected dangerous software on your device, it can take action to remove it before it causes any further damage. Antivirus software is one of the most important cybersecurity tools that you can install on your device.
You also need to make sure to use premium antivirus software because it comes with additional features such as the ability to detect phishing scams before you click on them. This acts as a safety net that will prevent malware from making its way onto your device in the first place. However, this is just a precaution, and the software still needs to work hard as a guard dog to protect your device.
