Five Security Myths Debunked
Vipre
Security News, July 2014
Myth #1: No One Would Want To Hack Me,
I Don't Have Anything Worth Taking
…or contacts that would make us a specific target of a criminal. However, what many people are unaware of is most of cyber threats are internet-wide fishing expeditions by automated bots looking for vulnerable computers and networks.
Contrary to what you might think, the criminal behind the bot simply wants to use your device or its storage as a remote unit for contraband material (such as child pornography) or as a zombie/slave in denial-of-service (DOS) attacks on Web sites.
Myth #2: Services Such as Tor and VPNs Make Me Completely Anonymous
Tor is free software that helps you defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security. It offers tremendous anonymity from companies that harvest your data, your ISP, and even the government to a degree.
A VPN encrypts all of your traffic so you can be sure your communications are secure.
However, these and other services are not foolproof. A skilled and determined hacker can decrypt just about anything!
Myth #3: MAC Filtering and Disabling SSID Will Protect my Wi-Fi Network
Both of these strategies will provide some protection but will not stop a hacker or piece of malware from breaking in.
MAC (Media Access Control) filtering basically permits or denies network access to specific devices through the use of blacklists and whitelists. It is mostly futile against serious hackers or botnet.
Equally futile is hiding your wireless network’s SSID (Service Set Identifier). It may keep your nosy neighbor from seeing the name of your network, but as soon as you use your wireless network, you send your SSID name over the air anyway.
Myth #4: Incognito Mode Protects My Privacy
Incognito mode does protect your privacy -- but only from other people using your computer. However, it does not protect you from everybody and everything on the Internet. Even though you're warned each time you open an Incognito window, many people still think that browsing in Incognito mode means they can't be tracked, their ISP can't see what they're browsing, or they're somehow anonymous to the party on the other end of their connection. Unfortunately, none of the above is true.
Myth #5: I Don't Need Anti-Malware Because I Don't Do Anything Risky
This is perhaps the biggest and most persistent computer security myth. Even if you think you don’t do anything risky, you are always at risk from threats and attacks. It’s wise to install anti-malware security, such as VIPRE Antivirus. VIPRE combines powerful antivirus and anti-spyware technologies with automated patching of vulnerable software, a firewall to stop malicious web traffic, an anti-spam filter, and a bad website blocker.
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