Unlike traditional computer security, internet security is often an afterthought for many users, but it is the first-line defense against malware. Computer security is an area some of us have a little knowledge in – We get it bundled in when buying a device, we may be using a free trial we’ve found online, or most reliably, we use our computer operating systems native security solution.
These methods can be useful for file-scanning or treating a virus after it’s infected a device. Still, very often, they are either underwhelming or useless when it comes to internet security.
Internet Security is less about protecting and scanning files inside your hard drive and more about proactively protecting your machine when you’re using the internet before any attacks have been made.
Why Internet Security is Important
An antivirus may tackle what’s on your computer or phone already, but it’s important to make sure your devices don’t ever get to that stage.
Internet Security is the process of ensuring you and your devices’ safety while you use the Internet.
This can be broken into two areas – Safe browsing and internet security software.
Safe browsing could be thought of as ‘digital street smarts.’ It concerns making sensible decisions online.
The forefront of these decisions would be not following suspicious links or not opening email attachments from individuals you don’t.
On a social level, it’s smart choices like not putting all of your information online. Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok seem like the antithesis to this thought. Still, growing concern about privacy with third-party companies in the news recently reinforces the idea that you really don’t need to divulge every part of yourself in an online persona.
Internet security software is the practical part of internet security. Like you can have an antivirus to diagnose issues on your machine, you should always have a client that works while you’re browsing. Internet security software can be a fallback when you accidentally click that link or open that email attachment.
At a time where Malware attacks become more sophisticated, it can be difficult telling the real and illegitimate apart. Internet security software can sometimes be your only avenue of safety.
Hackers and other bad actors are becoming more and more aware that most people are unprotected online. Last year saw an increase in cybercrime across the board, with attacks occurring 2,244 per day on average.
As phone technology evolves, so does their environment for potential hacking. As they are now, phones are effectively tiny computers, and tiny computers are as vulnerable as regular sized ones!
Last year, 14,204,345 attacks were recorded on mobile devices. This is an overwhelming number, especially considering most mobile users have no antivirus, nevermind Internet Security.
In the battlefield of Internet Security, knowledge is power and knowing how the enemy attacks can ensure your safety.
Malware
Regarding Internet Security, Malware is a broad term and used as an umbrella for several different things. Short for malicious software, Malware encompasses all forms of unwanted software on your browser, machine, or associated with your online accounts.
While many things are classified under the Malware category, the most notable are Adware, Botnets, Phishing, Spyware, Trojans, and Ransomware.
Adware
Adware is one of the most common types of Malware. Many are familiar with it, and how irritating it can be.
When Adware infects your device or browser, it’s noticiable nearly immediately.
Advertisements will appear in places you’re not used to seeing them, including pop-ups all over your desktop, on the header of the screen, embedded within the browser, or even within text.
Adware is often said to be the least harmful of the Malware categories your device or browser can contract. That may be true, but Adware is usually a sign that other Malware has found its way to you.
Botnets
Botnets have become increasingly widespread and sophisticated in recent years, now able to burrow themselves deep within your browser or device.
When your device becomes infected with a botnet virus, it means that its processing power joins a large network of other infected devices and is used for malicious ends.
Usually, a botnet controller will have thousands of infected devices under their control. All these devices can be used at once, usually for distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks or attempting data breaches.
Phishing
Malware is often manifested in a destructive client, but with Phishing, the focus is more on social engineering.
The core thought behind phishing attacks is older than computers themselves.
Phishing attempts to dupe the user into handing over sensitive credentials or details to sources that appear legitimate but are not.
Email is one of the most common attack vectors for phishing attempts. A user will get an email from what looks to be Microsoft, which will contain a link leading to a website seeking sign-in credentials for services like Outlook.
The website may appear in design and function identical to the Outlook website, but behind the page, the details entered are being given to hackers or illegal organizations.
With all the services the average person is signed up for today, Phishing has become widespread. Phishing attempts can often be seen with the naked eye, but higher fidelity attempts appear more regularly, and it’s sometimes too difficult to tell at first glance.
Spyware
When Spyware infects a device, it can spy on all information going through that device, as the name implies.
In the early 2000s, this mostly took the form of ‘Keylogging’ – Reading all the inputs from your keyboard. This may seem like a crude approach, but if the individual behind the keylogger was meticulous enough in their work, they could easily harvest your online banking credentials and other sensitive pieces of information.
Spyware has become more sophisticated since, now, having the ability to spy on network traffic, browser information, your entire screen, or even look through your device’s camera.
Spyware often treads the line between illegal and legal. Legal spyware, if often used by company network administrators, and governments are using it increasingly – this particular variant being coined ‘Govware.’
Trojans
Trojans are a unique category of malware. Rather than being a harmful virus themselves, they instead act as the vector for carrying a harmful payload.
Trojans are vessels that hold malware payloads inside them. They’re named for the wooden Trojan Horse, which was given to the city of Troy by the Greeks as a peace offering. Once inside the city, the gift was revealed to be a trap, as Greek soldiers emerged from the horse’s belly and sacked the city.
Similarly, a Trojan will find its way onto your system, often in an email attachment, and deploy malware.
Trojans have become complex, and some can act as a perpetual backdoor on your system. Once they have established a connection to the hackers’ control center, they can indefinitely bring more malware over undetected.
Ransomware
Ransomware has become one of the most deadly and devastating forms of Malware.
When your device becomes infected with Ransomware, it will ‘lock-up’ – You’ll be unable to use it, instead being brought to a splash screen installed by the software.
The screen will inform you that you’ve been infected and that you need to pay the individual or organization behind the Ransomware to free your device.
Ransomware can cripple companies and organizations in seconds. When a ransomware attack is planned, it is usually done so carefully and on a large scale. On an industrial scale, the most recent Ransomware was WannaCry, which held 66 government and corporate systems to ransom.
The Internet Security Software Solution
There are many software solutions for Internet Security, but SaferNet was built with it in mind.
SaferNet is the perfect solution to the internet security issues that individuals, families, and businesses face today. It not only connects every device using a secure, 24/7 always on, military grade VPN, but it also stops outside cyberthreats, malware and viruses as well. On SaferNet, all users are protected anywhere in the world, all the time, on any cellular or Wi-Fi network. In addition to SaferNet’s VPN and cyber protection, it also offers a range of employee or parental/family internet controls including internet filtering, monitoring, scheduling, and blocking access to websites or even entire website categories
Typically, a business or family would need 3 separate services for a VPN, Malware Protection, and Internet Controls; SaferNet offers all 3 features in one service. SaferNet truly is an endpoint security presence that can be implemented in minutes around the world, on phones, laptops, tablets, and computers at an economical price point that caters to all sizes of businesses and families. SaferNet guarantees a smooth setup and installation process that takes only minutes, and an easily accessible control hub for you to monitor all your employee’s or family members devices; including activity, time spent online, and threats blocked.