Being a zp'er well protected from cyber criminals

As an independent professional it is always very important to secure your devices and network. It is unthinkable that your client's data could accidentally be out in the open. Nevertheless, it can't hurt to take a closer look at how well you are protected against cyber criminals. Because more and more people are working (partly) from home in these corona times, criminals are finding increasingly creative ways to enter systems. In the HeadsUp webinar “Cyber Security,” ethical hacker, Jochen den Ouden, looks at this ever-increasing cyber crime. How do digital attackers think? And how can you make sure you don't make it too easy for hackers? We'd like to take you through the answers.

Phishing mails

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, there has been a huge increase in cyber crime. Servers quickly had to be used from home and many people went to work over an open network. A feast for digital hackers. An example of a well-known cyber attack that you saw a huge increase in at the beginning of the corona crisis was “phishing mail. In Italy, the number of phishing attacks skyrocketed right away, for example, fake emails in the name of the WHO.

How do you recognize these phishing mails?

1. They often have a poor and impersonal salutation (e.g. dear customer, relation)
2. They often have a coercive tone
3. The mails often ask you to log in somewhere
4. Or even immediately asked to pay for something

Doubting whether an e-mail is safe? Check out the site www.checkjelinkje.nl. This site indicates whether a link from an e-mail is legitimate. Do you have reservations about a document sent to you? Then use the Web site www.virustotal.com to run the file through a virus database.

Zoom accounts

In addition to sending phising mails, hackers went on a massive search for Zoom accounts that were open. And all the enthusiastic posts of home offices on social media also made it a lot easier for them. Photos of home workspaces often featured laptop screens shared with privacy-sensitive information. Think URLs that were meant only for customers or colleagues and passwords on the screen.

Tips in a row

So how do you work safely from home? And do you prevent data about customers, clients, patients, citizens or colleagues from falling into the wrong hands? Den Ouden gave several tips in this webinar. We list them for you:

1. Make sure you have a good and working backup.
2. Make the backup online and offline. Use not only cloud services but also an external hard drive.
3. Be alert to suspicious phone calls or emails. Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the news and the situation at hand.
4. Take advantage of the technology offered, such as Citrix.
5. Always perform updates, this will keep the system safe.
6. Make use of strong passwords, even at home on the WIFI network.
7. Make use of a VPN connection. The connection is encrypted, so you make it a lot harder for hackers.

Finally, do a “check up” once or twice a year. What privacy-sensitive information is on your computer or your clients' computers? What programs are you all using? Is this secure? And what have you done to make it secure? Also consider how you share files. You can only guarantee the security of these if you do this via a secure share or a secure USB drive. Make a list for yourself and think of it as an APK for your own information security. This way you make yourself aware of security risks and make it a lot less easy for hackers.

HeadsUp webinar 'Cyber Security'Curious about all the tips?

You can watch the webinar here.