Effective Ways To Manage Cybersecurity During The Pandemic And In The New Digital Era

With the pandemic all over the world, a total lockdown was the last resort for the countries to save their citizens. And as we know from the idiom, ‘Actions have consequences, so does this lockdown thing. A lot of industries and sectors were hit hard with the sudden imposition of lockdown. But this move too had consequences, and they were quite rash and severe. IT services, manufacturing plants, financial industry, film industry were all hit hard. Everyone had to face a crisis in some sort or other; for some, it was health, it was resources, etc. But the collective crisis that the country had to face was an economic meltdown. Stock markets crashed, GDP fall, and many such catastrophic things. Slowly and gradually, people started acknowledging the present situation to be the new normal.

Work from home was the last resort for many sectors such as IT industries, investment banks, and educational institutes. People working from their home on their laptops and desktop-based computers were the new norm. Government offices were also closed forcibly, and they too were compelled to have their employees work from home.

This sudden inflow of a lot of users on the internet lures the attention of hackers and crackers. In this digital era, we are good with our ways to get things done fast and efficiently as well. But with these perks come certain security risks associated with it too. Security threat is a very important aspect to consider while we are working digitally. Our work can be duplicated, data can be stolen, files can be altered, and many other such things can be accomplished that too remotely without even touching the targeted system. Such is the security threat associated with the works.

Viruses, Trojans, and malware are the other class of risks associated. If this malware gets even a whip of the taste of your computer, then all they have to do is enter your system, and that’s it. They can corrupt your files, harm your software vociferously, crash the whole system or commit some similar nefarious deed. These viruses enter into computers in two ways, either by plugging an infected storage device or by downloading some infected file from the internet. These things can remain inactive in systems for quite a long time, and when the time comes, they start acting.

Following are some ways to keep viruses, malware off your computers:

1. Avoiding cracked software: One way to avoid having these viruses lurking on your system is to avoid cheap software; worse can be installing cracked versions of premium software. They are the prime source of viruses. And that’s quite straight too, as nothing comes for free in this world.
2. Updating system: There is a reason why the manufacturers have installed the update feature. This feature helps in keeping your system capable of fighting off new threats and regularly accustoms itself to new viruses. But we disable these updates just because they use up some data of us. And also take some extra time to get installed.
3. Having an antivirus: These programs are known as antivirus, repel viruses from computers. These programs scan your system periodically for any present malware and deal with any if detected. These programs also scan devices that have been recently plugged into computers for any potential threat. Antiviruses also scan your computer for newly downloaded files if that’s any threat to your system. In short, regard it as a personal bodyguard for your system. They come with different brands and different security solution types like all-around security, internet security, etc.
4. Being aware: Being aware of the cyber surrounding can alone save a lot of damage. They say precaution is the best cure. That is apt. If the files that are going to be downloaded, the flash drives which are going to be inserted are the ones from the unknown, then it should be avoided getting in the first place. Only known websites should be accessed from your PCs. Shady websites have a reputation for getting their surfers into trouble. If these precautions are taken, then no harm will be inflicted upon the system.

Steps to ensure the cybersecurity of your data:

1) Using a web-filtering system: This feature helps eliminate harmful websites. It filters out those flagged websites which have been marked unsafe to visit. Also, they can be used as a way to restrict yourself from visiting any distractive websites while working. This feature is also used dominantly in IT industry offices to restrain their employees from visiting any time killing websites such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc.

2) Keeping critical data offline: Having your most important and privacy concerned data offline can substantially lower the chances of data theft. Chances are the hackers will only attack your system when they know your files are kept online. If your files are saved in offline mode on your computer, they can’t go after you, not at least remotely. They would have to have physical access, which is a lot cumbersome for them.

3) Having a firewall: Having a firewall in your computer is quite similar to having a firewall in your building. Just like a firewall prevents fire from breaking out from one room to another. Similar is the function of firewalls on your computer. Once they get installed on it, they start functioning as a wall catching viruses. Not letting go of these viruses is the primary function of these firewalls. In most computers, it comes pre-installed you just have to enable it.

4) Encrypting device: A very generic method yet a very effective one, especially if you are in public spaces where your computer is vulnerable to privacy breaches. Suppose you need to use the washroom very urgently but risk your data, simply turn off your computer as you’ll be gone for a very short period, so hecklers do much to an encrypted state that too in a very short time.