Internet browsing has become an important part of our daily lives but various security risks may arise if proper measures are not followed. Exposing your financial information, being a victim of malware infection or losing access to the files stored on your computer, all these are some of the common threats that a user may have to deal with. Following safe web browsing practices can help to avoid all these risks and protect your personal data online.

Here are some tips to stay safe while browsing the internet.

• Keep Your Browser Updated: Make sure your web browser is constantly updated to the latest version. Security patches are often released to fix any vulnerabilities that may be present in the previous version. You can turn on automatic updates or regularly check for the newer version available. Besides the browser, the operating system and software installed on your computer should also be up-to-date.

• Improve Computer Security: Install and use an anti-virus software, spyware as well as malware detection program to improve the security of your computer. This will help to detect and remove any potentially dangerous program from your system. Also enable the firewall to avoid hackers from getting unauthorized access to your computer.

• Be Careful Of Phishing: Phishing attacks involve the use of spam emails, which appear to be from a legitimate source, and aim at acquiring sensitive information from the users. Make sure you do not click any link or download any attachment from an email received from unknown sender.

• Be Cautious When Using Wi-Fi: You should be extremely cautious when accessing the internet through a wireless connection as information shared over these networks is not usually encrypted. Do not log in to any of your online accounts, make financial transactions or access your social media profiles on a Wi-Fi connection. Your information can be easily intercepted by hackers and used for malicious purposes.

• Look For HTTPS: When accessing any website that requires you to enter important information, such as password, credit card details, bank account number etc., make sure that the website’s URL starts with an ‘HTTPS’ instead of ‘HTTP’. There should also be a padlock icon in the address bar, verifying that the website you are visiting is secure.

• Do Not Reuse Passwords: Using the same passwords for all your online activities makes it easier for the hackers to gain access to multiple accounts. Hence, you should create complex and unique passwords for different accounts, including internet banking, email, social media, online shopping etc.

For more internet safety tips, feel free to contact Centex Technologies at (972) 375 – 9654.

Network attack can be defined as an attempt to breach the security of a computer network in order to gain unauthorized access to the targeted device or exploit the vulnerabilities in the software applications. Without proper security measures, your network is vulnerable to different types of security threats, eventually causing it to crash. A network attack can either be passive (wherein the hacker may simply monitor and steal data stored on the computer) or passive (in which the information may be altered or destroyed).

Given below are some of the common types of network attacks:

IP Spoofing

A corporate or home network uses the IP address of a device to identify its entity and allow access. In a spoofing attack, the hacker may use a forged IP address to breach into a network in the guise of a legitimate user. He may alter, delete or destroy the data being shared in the network. He may also modify the source of the data packets so that they appear to be originating from another computer on the same network.

Sniffing

Network sniffing is the process of monitoring, capturing and intercepting the data packets traveling through an internet network. If the data is not properly encrypted and sent as cleartext, it can be easily read by the hacker. On the other hand, an encrypted data packet cannot be accessed unless the hacker has the key to open it.

Buffer Overflow

A buffer overflow attack occurs when the target computer receives more data/traffic than it is capable to hold, thus creating a lot of temporary files that overwrite the already existing valid data. The excess files usually contain a malicious code designed to carry out specific actions, such as deleting files, altering data or transmitting confidential information to the hacker.

Man In The Middle Attack

This is a form of session hijacking attack in which the hacker actively monitors, captures and controls the flow of information between the source as well as the destination computer on a network. The attack may be simply aimed at getting access to the information being shared or modifying it before being transmitted to the other end. In some forms of man in the middle attacks, the hacker may even disconnect the other user and completely take over the session to acquire sensitive information.

Centex Technologies is a leading IT company providing network security solutions to the business firms in Dallas, TX. For more information, feel free to call us at (972) 375 – 9654.