7 Ways To Protect Your Family from Cyberattacks

As technology advances, so do the dangers associated with it. These dangers seem far off until you learn that your mom’s social media account was hacked, your relatives sent money to the hacker pretending to be your mom, and/or a close friend’s savings account where she keeps her kids’ tuition fee got wiped out.

Moms and Dads, the dangers are closer than you think they are, so you must know how to protect yourself and your family from cyberattacks that steal and alter your data and compromise your safety. Here are 7 simple ways you can do to equip yourself from these unauthorized access:

According to the Data Privacy Act of 2012 or Republic Act 10173, personal information is any information that can be linked to your identity such as your full name, birthday, address, and contact number. Avoid as much as you can in sharing these pieces of identifiable information by not posting your and your family’s identification card, license, passport, certificates bearing your full name and signature, and your child’s school report card.

It’s fun to update your social media account as special events like your childhood friends’ reunion or school homecoming unfold right before you, but know that special moments don’t need to make it to the public eye all the time. You might be unknowingly exposing sensitive information that answers your email’s security questions such as “What was the name of your first elementary school?” or “What was the name of the street your grew up on?” in a seemingly harmless post.

Hackers love to lurk under false identities, or under the name of someone you know. If you receive a friend request from any of these people, either you decline right away or verify first. It may be fun to receive tons of likes and reacts on every post you share as a result of having many “friends” or “contacts,” but in the online world as it is in the real world, keeping your circle small has its merits.

Have you ever received a text message or a call where your full name is specified? Either they claim that you won a huge amount in a contest you never participated in, or you got accepted in a job you haven’t even applied for. Avoid entertaining or engaging with them. The more information you give them, the more risky it gets. Block these numbers for your safety.

Mysterious text messages or e-mails most likely come with a link you’re asked to click. These may be phishing links, or links that ask you to enter your personal information so attackers will obtain your login credentials or card numbers.

Multi-factor authentication, simply put, is your extra layer of protection. This will be particularly helpful when other people try to access your account from an unknown device. They will not be able to do so unless they present two or more “verification factors” such as password, personal identification number (PIN), a biometric or fingerprint, or a one-time pin (OTP) sent to your registered mobile number. On this note, make it a point to never share any of these to anyone.

With your mental load as a parent, it’s convenient to just use the same password across multiple accounts for months or years. However, as you may have heard many times before, this is not the best way to keep your online accounts safe. Also, avoid using easily guessed passwords such as birthdays, most especially when your social media accounts bear these pieces of information.