Below, we share with you a series of steps, as a good practice to avoid being a victim of Social Engineering.
1. Do not open unknown emails. It is important to know that , if we work in a company, there are specialized areas where these cases can be reported and know the steps to follow. Otherwise, it is recommended to delete them directly.
2. Do not answer suspicious messages, this involves SMS, instant messaging such as WhatsApp, Telegram or emails.
3. Take precautionary measures no matter who or what sends it.
4. Be careful when downloading files, be it an email with attachments, a text message, WhatsApp or any other social network, even if they are known contacts. It should be remembered that cloning or theft of information is a very common and frequent cybercrime.
5. Always keep the operating systems and antivirus of our devices updated, in addition to always having them active, this helps mitigate risks to which we may be exposed.
6. Always verify the security of the websites where we provide personal and banking information, also making sure that they are well written. We must keep in mind that cloning pages is something that we cannot see with the naked eye. On the other hand, remember that official pages work with a security certificate and use HTTPS protocols.
7. The use of VPN is important when we connect to public Wi-Fi networks to avoid information leaks, and in the case of business use to securely and authorized access to corporate networks.
8. If you receive messages with suspicious links, if possible it is advisable not to open them.
9. Not all the people we have just met have good intentions and it is easy to fall into the hands of a cybercriminal, not to trust strangers who ask for your personal or business data.
10. Be suspicious if you receive an offer such as a prize, a new job, among others.
11. Using 2-factor or multi-factor authentication (Also read Multi-Factor Authentication) can help strengthen the security of companies or devices since not only would users and passwords be used, but fingerprints, easy recognition and more can be used.
12. It is recommended to use passwords with more than 12 alphanumeric characters (combination of uppercase, lowercase, numbers and symbols) in addition to changing them frequently every 3 months to avoid the theft of information or personal data that could harm us or our companies.
13. It is important to encourage employees and ourselves that we are never exempt from being victims of this type of attacks or fraud, mitigating risks with knowledge of policies or the correct use of information can avoid significant losses.
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