The Easter Egg Hunt meets Cybersecurity! 3 tips for a Cyber Safe Easter

Spring is here! Bunnies are hopping, birds are chirping – and little colored eggs are nestled amongst blades of grass, just waiting for little sticky hands to pick them up. But what’s the connection between the Easter Egg hunt and cybersecurity? At ReasonLabs, we are focused on giving consumers the best protection possible – and one of the best ways is to provide awareness surrounding cybersecurity.

In the same way that these little eggs are hidden, leading you on a trail – there are concepts within cybersecurity that work on the same premise.  We’re going to take a look at a few current threats out there – and what you can do to protect yourself from them!

Trojans

Sneakily inveigling themselves within software, a Trojan hides from the unwitting eye, potentially causing all sorts of damage to your device. Trojan’s can cause untold damage to your computer: deleting, blocking and modifying your data, as well as disrupting device performance, and wreaking havoc on your network.

There are many different types of Trojans – backdoors, RATs, droppers and more – but what they all have in common is that they need an end-user to act in order to execute themselves. 

Our advice is: always be careful when surfing the web, use a security-focused web extension like Online Security, don’t open email attachments from unknown senders, and only download programs from legitimate sources.

Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs)

Hiding and evasion is an APTs secret weapon – known as ‘dwell time’, the Advanced Persistent Threat will hide in your device for as long as possible, gathering as much information and sensitive data as it can. Typically, an APT will want to attack a large network – so if you are a business owner, it’s important to take care!

So what defenses can we set up? Installing a firewall is the best way to guard your network’s perimeter against external threats. A firewall can also help you discover new threats, and develop patches to cover them as soon as possible.

Spoofing Scams

Spoofing scammers LOVE to hide themselves – their best chance at success is to trick and deceive you, by subtly changing an email address, URL, sender name, or phone number, in order to convince you that their activity is legitimate.

• If you are at all suspicious, trust your instincts!
• Never give out any sensitive information or data 
• Don’t pass money online if you are unsure of the recipient
• Check that the webpage you are browsing is safe – a secure URL should begin with “https”.

Additionally, a next-generation antivirus solution that can detect all kinds of viruses and threats is an absolute must. Trusting your natural instincts is a huge part of being cyber safe – but we can’t rely on this alone! A machine-learning, AI-based antivirus with multilayered features is your best bet for keeping your devices and networks safe from attacks.

So this Easter – don’t put all your eggs in one cybersecurity basket!

Employ a cutting-edge antivirus, such as RAV Endpoint Protection, and start utilizing the many cybersecurity features it has to offer- including mic and webcam protection, threat hunting, and file scanning.

For more information: www.reasonlabs.com. 

Happy Easter!