Welcome to our final day – #6 – of our Christmas CyberSecurity Tips. This time our tips are about DDoS Attacks and Password Security:
DDoS attacks
A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack can really take the fun out of things like online shopping and gaming.
If the site you’re trying to use is taken offline, it means you can’t view it, or the page loads are slow and timeout.
DDoS attacks have ‘stolen Christmas’ for many online gamers in the past. Especially back in 2014, after knocking offline both PlayStation Networking and Xbox Live services. Many a young boy and girl (and adult) were unable to get their online gaming fix on Christmas morn’.
That said, if you have insecure devices, like the webcams we reported on earlier this year, you’re not just affected by DDoS attacks, you can be PART of one!
Christmas CyberSecurity Tip #11: Update the firmware of your routers, webcams and DVRs – if you are unsure how to do that, call a tech-guy and ask if that’s a service they can do for you – because you don’t want to be part of the problem!!
Password security
It has never been more important to have a strong password than now. Cybercriminals crack passwords for so many reasons – to gather personal information about you, to abuse your systems, or simply to commit fraud.
If and when you receive a new tech device this Christmas season, please make sure to replace the default password with one that’s strong and much more complex. Discover some password security essentials and review all your passwords for 2017.
Christmas CyberSecurity Tip #12: A strong password is not about special characters – learn a little more about Strong Passwords here.