Rise of internet and efficient computing power since last decade has been full of surprises, hasn’t it? Tasks like banking, shopping, food delivery and now even house parties are being planned over online meetings. Life has never been more convenient once we have our smart phone in our hands and yet, it will continue to evolve with the rise of technologies like IoT and AI.

Now, with all our food, shopping choices, communications and sensitive personal information such as banking and social security details stored online, we need to be cautious about unauthorized access to this data.

Targeted marketing is now not a new thing. We all have atleast one experience of getting relevant and sometimes highly related advertisements if we do some product research over internet before making any purchase. And at some level, its generally accepted considering the fact that ‘Everything comes at a price’. So the advertisements we see is the price we are paying to use ‘Free of cost’ internet search engine and social media platforms.

Most of us think that as regular law-abiding citizens, our data will not be as interesting as that of some celebrity, enterprise or government. But this is where things go wrong. It might surprise you, but data of individuals, once combined is as valuable as sensitive information available from enterprises or governments. If you look for expert analysis regarding price of such personal data, you will be astonished. For example, a cloned American Express with PIN is being sold for $35 at dark web market places while hacked instagram, facebook accounts are being sold for about $100! And weird thing is, you are very unlikey to be aware that your personal data is being exchanged in some part of internet.

1. Always install OS security updates released for your smart phones, computers and even smart devices.
2. Avoid accessing banking sites and social media platforms over public WiFi.
3. Add multi-factor authentication to all online accounts where its supported.
4. Only trusted individuals should be allowed to use your personal devices
5. Always encrypt sensitive information such as bank, social security details.
6. Do not store any type of credential as a plain text anywhere! Use password management tools.
7. Encrypt your phone SIM cards
8. Block sensitive notifications on your smart phones and computers.
9. Do not open suspicious emails or messages. Delete straight away or consult with experts.
10. Nothing is Free! SO be cautious while downloading free applications or cracked games, softwares
11. Shutdown personal computers when not in use. Keeping systems online 24/7 makes them more vulnerable for cyber-attacks.
12. Always invest in decent anti-malware, antivirus solutions. It’s worth it!
13. Disable Wifi, Bluetooth, NFC when not in use.

While there are must follow tips, always keep yourself up-to-date about cyber security because now, internet is already an important part of life and its high time to secure yourself in World Wide Web.