In today’s digital world, we perform a lot of things online. Thanks to our technological advancements, business, payment transactions, meetings, socialising, and learning are all made easier and cheaper. But this comes with a huge risk – security. When engaging in online activity, you need to keep your device safe from hackers in Nepal.
Your data is vulnerable and can be accessed by hackers who intend to use it for malicious purposes. Kids and old uneducated people are generally more likely to have their data accessed by hackers. They are unaware of cybersecurity and the risk it poses.
As technology and the internet are growing rapidly, the general Nepali community needs to know how they might unknowingly become victims of cybercrime and give hackers access to their devices. Here are some ways you might give away your valuable data and how you can prevent them.
Phishing
Phishing is the practice of deceitful attempts to acquire a person’s sensitive information, such as login credentials and credit card details. Most commonly, phishing sites will disguise themselves to look identical to a certain website like Facebook. Phishers change the website URL slightly by misspelling it intentionally or using subdomains to catch unsuspecting victims.
The victims input their login credentials unknowingly and the fake sire will redirect them to the official site to avoid suspicion. Now, the phishing site owner can access your email, username, and password. They can freely use them without you knowing that your data has been breached.
Protecting Yourself from Phishing
To keep your accounts safe from hackers in Nepal, you should always ensure that the site you are visiting is the official one. A quick google search will always present you with the proper website URL you are looking for. You should also avoid clicking on suspicious links or messages you have received.
If you think you have been phished, you should immediately change your login and credentials. You should also check which devices your account is logged in on if the website allows it.
Poor Passwords
Most people who have accounts on many different websites tend to use the same password for their login. The argument is that it saves them from having to come up with new memorable passwords. This is more or less true for us Nepalese as well. However, this is a very insecure practice. If a hacker finds out your password for one website, they can try it for other websites and gain access.
Hackers commonly use brute-forcing and dictionary attacks to crack your password. Brute-forcing is the method where an automated software tries a variety of alphabets, numbers, and symbols to guess your password. A dictionary attack inputs every word in the dictionary to guess your password. These techniques are not difficult, so hackers in Nepal get a big reward if they manage to guess the password correctly.
Good Password Habits
Thus, it is crucial to make your passwords strong by using a string of uncommon alphabets, numbers, and symbols; the more characters you use, the harder it is for brute-forced. You can also find random password generators and password managers that you can use to manage all your passwords safely.
These days, several websites allow users to use 2FA (Two-factor authentication) or MFA (Multi-factor authentication). 2FA or MFA essentially acts as another layer of verification. It sends you a code to your trusted device once you have logged in. You can only access the website after inputting the code. Using these basic tools will help you secure yourself from hackers in Nepal.
Investment Scams
Investment scammers usually operate with the account of their previously hacked victims or create new accounts pretending to be bankers, lawyers, or government officials. They use photos and logos off of Google to seem more believable. They offer the victim a proposition about a new investment offer or a newly launched government grant that can net a huge sum of money. It is of course a farce, but most gullible victims fail to see through it and fall for this. The scammer then tells their victim to wire them the processing or shipment fee to receive their money.
To protect yourself from scammers, always be suspicious of emails from unknown contacts and if a message from a friend seems unusual, contact them directly. If they make offers that seem too good to be true or ask for more information, consider it a major red flag and immediately avoid contacting them.
Visiting Unsafe Websites
There are a lot of malicious websites on the internet. These websites attempt to install malware onto your device. Malware can disrupt computer operation, gather your personal information, and even gain total access to your machine. This, however, for the most part, requires you to take some action first in most cases. It is easy to fall victim to hackers in Nepal because they will exploit your lack of knowledge.
Also check out our article on how you can protect your privacy from intrusive search engines.
For instance, the website might tell you that your device is at risk and needs to download an anti-virus, but after you agree to download, it installs the malware instead. In the worst-case scenario, if your device, app, or browser is outdated or has a security flaw, the website might exploit this and perform a drive-by download. A drive-by download is the unintentional download of a virus or malware onto your device without your knowledge.
Recognizing Unsafe Websites
You can determine if a website you’re visiting is safe or not by checking if it has an SSL certificate or not. Most popular browsers will show a padlock icon near the URL bar to indicate whether it is safe or not. If you happen to click on a link or visit an insecure website, most browsers will stop you and notify you that the webpage you’re trying to visit is unsafe. It is in your best interest to follow the browser’s warning and avoid visiting said compromised webpage.
As an added rule of thumb, try not to visit websites that start with HTTP. Generally speaking, https is more secure than HTTP as organisations and businesses will always try to secure their website for their users’ protection.
Protecting Yourself From Hackers in Nepal
You can protect your device and data from being accessed by hackers and scammers if you follow the steps mentioned above. Remember that your data safety takes priority above all else, and make sure that you put in the effort to make sure your account(s) and data is safe on the internet.
