Good cyberhygiene is crucial against new cyber risks.

The Internet is a fantastic environment, but there are also dangers lurking on it: these past years, fraudsters are increasingly on the prowl on the Web. From a study conducted by Ghent University it appears that 68% of Belgians run the risk of falling foul of cybercrime. The reason: millions of Belgians don’t protect their computer, tablet or smartphone sufficiently or even not at all.

You’ve probably also come across the recent reports about the latest cyber risks Spectre and Meltdown. Currently, a comprehensive solution is being sought for these hardware-bound vulnerabilities, but in the meantime you can do much yourself by applying the necessary cyberhygiene.

The Cyber Security Coalition therefore calls for making an effort together at practicing good cyberhygiene so you don’t fall prey to cybercriminals.

Inventive cybercriminals

There are plenty of examples that show that good cyberhygiene is of crucial importance.

Just think of the ransomware WannaCry for example, which, mid last year, struck in some 150-odd countries and created several hundred thousand victims. To unlock their files and data taken hostage, the owners of the infected computers had to pay “ransom money”.

Or more recently: at the beginning of this month, computer manufacturers warned of two security vulnerabilities in the processor chips of their equipment, called Meltdown and Spectre. Through these discovered methods of attack, hackers would be able get access, via the computer’s processor or processing unit, to passwords and other sensitive data stored in the computer memory. The manufacturers are working full out to find an adequate solution. In the meantime it’s best that you install the most recent updates for your smartphone, tablet or computer.

A few tips to protect you

Cybersecurity and cyberhygiene don’t have to be laborious. The following tips will already help you to limit quite a few risks.

First and foremost, secure your computer by always installing the most recent updates of both your antivirus software and your operating system.

In addition, we recommend the following:

• Don’t click just any link and don’t download programs or files from unknown sites.
• Always make a back-up of your data on an external hard disk.
• Choose strong passwords (e.g. a password phrase).

Be sure to also regularly consult the sites www.safeonweb.be and www.cert.be. There you’ll find, among other things, additional tips to protect you against cybercrime but also against cyber risks such as Spectre and Meltdown.

For more information, you can contact us via [email protected]

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