The Best Ways to Avoid Getting Hacked (Updated 2022) 

It's harder than ever to avoid getting hacked. These personal and business tips can help you stay safe online.
avoid getting hacked

The concept of hacking has entered the mainstream consciousness during the digital age, as both businesses and individuals have found themselves targeted by increasingly sophisticated attacks and scams. It’s harder than ever to avoid getting hacked.

While there isn’t any concise data on how many people are hacked each year, it’s estimated that approximately 2,200 cyberattacks are carried out every day.

This could equate to more than 800,000 people being hacked during the typical 12-month period, while this number is likely to increase further amid rising Internet penetration rates and constantly evolving attacks.

But why and how do people get hacked, and what steps can you take to avoid this fate in 2022? Here’s an updated guide to help you stay safe online.

Why and How Do People Get Hacked?

Let’s start with the basics; there are two primary reasons why people get hacked. More specifically, hacking usually occurs either as a result of flaws in software or human behaviour, with the latter particularly problematic in 2022.

In fact, it’s thought that as many as 95% of cyber attacks occur as a result of human error, with even high-profile people in senior roles regularly making mistakes and falling victim to cybertheft or DDoS attacks in the worst case scenarios.

Look at British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, for example, who was found to have carelessly revealed the details of private and sensitive Zoom calls at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.

Then there’s former US President Donald Trump, who was reported to have used a far from cryptic iteration of his election slogan (maga2020!) as his Twitter password.

The latter point speaks to a wider problem when it comes to human behaviour, with people struggling to secure their online accounts with viable or unique passwords. 

According to a detailed analysis of more than 15 billion accounts across the globe, the top 10 most popular passwords include some incredibly common and simplistic phrases or alphanumeric combinations.

Incredibly, the most popular password is ‘123456’, which can be theoretically hacked in less than a second. The same rule applies to ‘123456789’, ‘qwerty’ and ‘password’, which comprise the rest of the top four.

The prevalence of such passwords highlights one of the many reasons why hacking and cyber attacks are becoming increasingly commonplace, as they leave accounts and hardware almost completely exposed to the machinations of cyberthieves.

We’ll touch more on this later in the piece, but in the meantime, we need to determine what types of hacking techniques are the most prevalent in 2022. Here’s some examples that you need to be aware of:

#1. Phishing Attacks

We’ll start with the most common hacking technique, which has evolved over the years to overcome increasingly stringent email security protocols.

Phishing involves the widespread distribution of a fraudulent message (usually through email), which is designed to convince the recipient to reveal sensitive information such as their bank details or password for a particular account.

They may also include attachments that the recipient is encouraged to download, unleashing malicious software or ‘malware’ onto their device.

Currently, ‘spear’ phishing is the most popular iteration of this practice, with this considerably more targeted and involving messages that are customised for a single person or business.

This can make them more convincing from the perspective of the recipient, with this borne out by the fact that approximately 88% of organisations experience spear phishing attacks every single year.

#2. Bait and Switch Attacks

Digital marketing is now the dominant medium for advertising products and services in 2022, creating a scenario where organic and paid-for ads on websites are trusted sources of information.

With bait and switch attacks, hackers leverage these channels to trick you into visiting harmful and malicious websites, paying a small amount for the available advertising space to create a seemingly legitimate marketing message.

However, the ad will include a bad or nefarious link, which may be utilised to download malware, compromise your operating system or launch a DDoS attack that essentially locks your browser or services.

With more sophisticated hacks of this type, the published as may link to a legitimate site, while using programming to subsequently redirect you to the potentially damaging alternative.

#3. Denial of Service (Dos / DDoS) Attacks

We’ve already touched on DDoS or DoS attacks, which refer to common hacking techniques that have been developed with a view to flooding your web server with a huge volume of requests and prompts.

Within a relatively short period of time, this slew of requests can overload your web server and cause its websites to crash, potentially compromising sensitive data and terminating your access to a range of apps and services.

This is another relatively sophisticated hacking method, as the protagonists will often utilise botnets or single-use ‘zombie’ computers with the sole purpose of drowning a site in spurious data requests.

#4. Key Logging Attacks

While key logging schemes are relatively rare when compared to phishing and DDoS attacks, they’re still carried out on a frequent basis across the globe.

A key logger describes a small and seemingly harmless piece of software, that when downloaded onto your laptop or personal computer, records every keystroke that you type during a sustained period of usage.

Obviously, this will help to capture huge swathes of potentially sensitive data, including specific usernames and passwords for accounts. Key logging software may also reveal the victim’s credit card number or banking data, along with information such as your address or PayPal account.

#5. Cookie Theft

Aside from being a delicious treat, cookies are also utilised by web browsers to store your personal information and capture datasets such as browsing history and login details for different sites.

In this respect, cookies can help sites to remember your username and password information in the future, but it also makes such data more vulnerable to hackers and cyberthieves online.

To this end, hackers will send I.P. (or data) packets that pass seamlessly through your device, particularly in instances where you’re surfing unsecure websites that don’t feature ‘Secure Socket Layer’ (SSL) certificates.

This places your stored cookie data at risk, making threats such as identity and cybertheft increasingly likely.

How to Avoid Being Hacked 

Now that we understand the issues posed by human error and the main techniques that hackers use to exploit these, the question that remains is what steps can you take to avoid being targeted online?

We’ve outlined some of the most effective solutions below, based on the most widely used hacking techniques and the human vulnerabilities that exist when managing accounts. So, let’s get into it!

#1. Use Secure and Regularly Updated Passwords

Some security measures are easier to implement than others, with the creation of unique and regularly updated passwords for different accounts offering a relevant case in point.

Ideally, your passwords should comprise random alphanumeric combinations of characters, including completely unpredictable sequences of letters, numbers and special symbols like ‘!’.

Such passwords should include between eight and 12 characters in total, while we’d recommend using a different alphanumeric combination for each account, service and application.

Of course, this may create challenges in terms of managing and remembering your accounts. However, you can use encrypted password managers to store this information securely, while also keeping corporeal records offline.

Similarly, we’d recommend changing your online passwords every three months or so, while regularly maintaining your profiles and ensuring that old or unused accounts are closed down where appropriate.

Even on a fundamental level, this minimises your digital footprint and reduces the amount of personal information that’s available online, giving hackers less opportunity to target your identity.

#2. Learn How to Identify a Phishing Attack

Whether your email address is targeted by a widespread or targeted ‘spear’ phishing attack, it’s crucial that you’re able to recognise this type of correspondence and avoid clicking any links included.

Remember, this is the most common type of hacking technique, and impulsively clicking on links or sharing information can incur significant online damage.

Fortunately, advanced email security settings are now capable of recognising some types of phishing messages and diverting them directly to your ‘Junk’ folder, at which point you can address the content and decide whether to delete it completely.

Still, spear messages may still enter your inbox, due to their more targeted and bespoke nature. In this case, it’s crucial that you act with caution when accessing a new message, particularly if it’s from an unfamiliar address.

At the very least, you should avoid clicking through any links or attachments that are included within the message. Then, scan the content to see what’s included in the body of the email, as any that ask for highly personal financial information such as your bank account or card details are likely to be highly suspicious.

Don’t be swayed by aggressive words such as ‘urgent’ or copy that’s written in an active tense, and in instances where you’re unsure or the message purports from your bank, consider contacting your service provider independently to double check.

#3. Use a Trusted VPN

VPNs (or virtual private networks) are commonly used to negate the geographical restrictions placed on streaming content, as they mask your IP address and the precise location of your device.

More specifically, VPNs create a secure, private network on a public Internet connection, and subsequently route your data through an encrypted tunnel that keeps core data from your Internet service provider.

In fact, your provider can only see the encrypted data during transit, while your IP address and the underlying content being sent remains invisible at all times.

This can also provide an extra layer of security against your being hacked, as cloaking your IP address makes it invisible to hackers and minimises the risk of malware or DDoS attacks. You won’t need to use a VPN all the time, but it’s recommended when accessing streaming services or looking to unlock restricted content from overseas.

You can check out a wealth of online VP reviews when choosing a viable provider, with some service providers a little more popular and widely used than others.

A quick scan of the Surf Shark VPN review reveals some attractive core features from the perspective of the end user, for example, including flexible pricing and the presence of multiple server locations across the globe.

This minimises the risk of lag or increased latency while streaming, while the Surf Shark review also highlights a number of purposeful security measures that help you avoid getting hacked.

#4. Utilise Multi-Factor Authentication

Some online accounts (including emails) are compatible with multi or two-factor authentication, which utilises one or more additional pieces of personal information to log you in securely.

Often, this will take the form of a unique code that’s generated by a login request, which is then sent to a separate registered device (typically SMS when using your smartphone).

This code must then be entered alongside a password to secure access, creating a real-time security dimension that’s hard for hackers to overcome. It’s time limited too, so you’ll only have a brief window in which to enter the information.

Multi-factor authentication can even help you to compensate for a weak password, as it requires hackers to simultaneously guess your password and have live access to your mobile phone.

In addition to emails, this type of authentication is typically available on Facebook, Instagram and messaging apps like WhatsApp, and we’d recommend that it’s activated wherever possible.

#5. And Finally – Update Your Operating Systems Frequently

At the start of the piece, we spoke about how user error and software flaws can make devices vulnerable to hacking.

The latter issue can be particularly problematic when using old or outdated software, so it’s crucial that you aim to update your desktop and mobile operating systems whenever prompted to avoid getting hacked.

The reason for this is simple; as scheduled upgrades will often include numerous software fixes, and failing to implement these could leave a number of bugs and areas of weakness for hackers to exploit.

This is especially important on your phone, which is usually subjected to more regular updates than desktop devices and tends to experience a larger range of bugs and software flaws.

Ultimately, you should update your operating systems whenever you’re prompted, while also renewing your antivirus software and VPN subscription where appropriate. If you also regularly change and update your passwords and stay on top of account management, you’ll make it considerably harder for hackers to access your most sensitive data!

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