Internet Security: How To Protect Yourself from Malware | Antivirus Software

Despite antivirus programs and firewalls, many dangers are lurking on the Internet. We will show you how to protect yourself against malware such as viruses and Trojans. Most Internet users now know that the Internet does not only provide access to secure sources. Nevertheless, they feel well protected on the Internet by antivirus programs - and in doing so, fall into the clutches of cybercriminals.

The threat posed by malware to corporate IT has increased by around 900 percent in the past year. This is the conclusion reached by researchers from the Israeli IT security specialist Check Point. Employees should therefore on average every 4-seconding the download malware. How can this happen in companies despite security software?

In 2015, nearly 12 million new malware variants were discovered every month. In the past two years, more new malware has been discovered than in the entire past decade. But the fight against cybercrime is not hopeless. It is important to understand how the pests work and then to follow a few simple rules. In this way, you can often prevent them from developing their effect.

First of all, you need to know what different types of malware there are. These differ mainly in terms of their functionality.

The Most Common Types of Malware

The computer virus is the oldest form of malware. It spreads by making copies of itself in programs, documents, or media.

A computer worm is similar to a virus, but it spreads over networks such as the Internet and tries to penetrate other computers. However, there are hardly any computer worms left these days. Other malware such as Trojans is more common.

A Trojan is a combination of a seemingly useful host program and a malware threat. The user installs example software, allowing the pest such as spyware or backdoor access to the computer. Spyware is a program that users access to your computer to gather information about it and relay it. Adwa-re is spyware quite similar, only to use this information for advertising or market research with the specific aim. A backdoor, however, allows third parties access to a computer. This is often used to use those computers as spam distributors or for denial-of-service attacks. A common form of Trojan horse nowadays is so-called ransomware, which encrypts computer networks and important files so that the user can no longer access them. A ransom is often then by the user demanded that he means bitcoins to pay.

Nowadays, however, the different types of malware can hardly be distinguished from one another, for example, because they are mixed types or different elements are linked to one another.

Can Programs Protect Against Malware?

Now you might get the impression that it should be very easy to take action against malware. After all, we basically know the different types of pests. The problem, however, is that virus protection can take action against already known malware, but the protection against new malware does not work. Also, new forms of malware are constantly being developed.

These cannot be recognized by anti-virus programs. An example would be the blackmailer Trojan cerium-ber, which every 15 seconds ver-än-of-th. It spread in Europe mainly through authentic-looking application emails with zip attachments. In many cases, malware thus spreads via the users themselves, who unknowingly fall into the trap. However, antivirus software is very important. After all, it can recognize malware that has been implemented and thus protect it from known viruses & Co.!

Almost Every Second German Company Is Affected

That almost every second company has already suffered through malware attacks data loss, went from a survey by market research firm B2B Inter-a-tonal on behalf of the security service provider Kaspersky Labs forth. As a result, 45 percent of the companies surveyed stated that they had already been affected by malware.

After all, that can happen quickly: the employees of a company open dozens of emails every day and sometimes also receive data attachments. But what are the consequences for employees if the attachment turns out to be a nasty surprise?

Consequences for Employees

Basically, employees do not have to expect any consequences at first unless they deliberately harm the company with malware. However, under certain conditions, an employee has to fear consequences under labor law, for example, if the malware attack resulted from private Internet use. Because if an employee surfs the Internet privately while at work, in the worst-case scenario, they can face termination without notice. The employer can even check the browser history without the consent of the employee.

Now employers will not make regular use of this right. However, if malware bypasses, this can be a reason to check the surfing activities of the employees. So if you got the malware into circulation by hanging around questionable websites, it can have unpleasant consequences.

So what can you really do to protect yourself? We'll show you!

6 Tips Against Malware

1. Find out More

That's right, by reading this blog article you have already taken a step in the right direction. It is important that you inform yourself about the dangers of malware and that you are not completely unsuspecting! In addition to articles on the subject, you should also occasionally find out via Google which current threats are currently circulating.

If you receive an e-mail with suspicious content, you should definitely not open the e-mail straight away or even download attachments, but rather check beforehand whether something is already known about it.

2. Obtain Strong Passwords

Many either have a very simple password or they use the same password for all sorts of purposes. But this puts you at greater risk. A password that is not so strong in any case can easily be cracked - and in the worst case, all other password-protected pages. But what actually is a secure password?

A secure password is characterized by the following features:

§  It has at least 8 characters: the fewer characters you use, the easier it is to crack your password. For example, imagine a password that consists of just three numbers. Such a password can be found out by trying out all possible combinations. There are 10 possibilities per digit (0 to 9), whereby there are three digits. This results in 10 ³ possible combinations, i.e. just 1000 different possibilities. The longer a password is, the more different combinations there are and the more secure the password is!
§  It consists of upper and lower case letters as well as special characters and digits:  In this way, you increase the number of possible characters and thus make your password more secure.
§  It has no relation to personal data: A common mistake is when users use their name in their password or dates such as birthdays. A hit for everyone who wants to crack passwords!
§  It does not represent a pattern: This mistake is also often made with the smartphone password. Do not use passwords made up of strings of numbers or letters such as 123456 or asdfgh.
§  It has no recognizable sense: It is best to use donkey bridges for yourself so that you can remember the password more easily, e.g. B. could be a_Ct1r0t3N! Stand for all clowns wearing a red nose.

3. Do Not Open Any Unknown Attachments

Have you received an email with an invoice or even a reminder? Before you panic, think again very calmly about it: Have you really missed the payment of an invoice, or are you really expecting an invoice to be received? If you are unsure, it is better to contact the alleged provider's customer service rather than simply following a link. Always remember: An invoice is never sent in a zip file and a company invoice never leads via a link to an external page where your personal data is requested!

In some cases, however, it is trickier: Application emails usually always contain an attachment. In this case, too, the sender of the mail is usually not known. However, check to see if the email seems strange to you. Also, applicants rarely send their documents in a zip file. Another option is to have attachments checked by virus protection programs in advance.

4. Only Visit Trusted Websites

Do you visit websites quite unsuspectingly and rarely worry about whether they are a trustworthy source? You are in good company! Try to be a little more critical on the Internet. For example, do not download free software or other content from websites that you do not know about.

A tip: Do not download anything, especially on company computers, without first asking the responsible network administrator for approval.

5. Report Deviations

Is something strange to you, but not reporting it? For example, your computer may run very slowly, you may receive strange error messages, or you receive a strange email from a colleague.

You don't need to know if this is actually malware, but you should make sure to let others know about it. If in the end, it turns out that there was no threat - so much the better.

6. Install Updates

Who does not know that? You work and get annoyed by update requests. Many then click on remind tomorrow to repeat the whole thing. But updates are important!

Your virus protection is constantly updated and expanded to include new and known malware codes. However, if you do not install an update, the virus protection will not be able to apply the updates - and it will only protect against old threats. Even more important, however, are the updates to your operating system and the software you are using. This closes existing security gaps that could otherwise serve as a target for attack. It is therefore essential that you take update requests seriously!

Conclusion

You cannot be completely safe from cyber attacks. However, you can actively help avoid falling into the simplest of traps. For this, it is important that you inform yourself and do not allow yourself to be too easily confused. Also: When was the last time you changed your password? The first of February was “change your password” day. Take this as an opportunity to clean out your old passwords!