Protecting your data from cyber criminals

An increasing problem

In today’s online world, cyber criminals are trying to take advantage of the ability to access our personal data, including names, dates of birth, email address, passwords and phone numbers. The cyber criminals then try to take over online accounts on a large scale. This is called credential stuffing.

The majority of credential stuffing attacks are performed by bots or applications and, because of the frequency and scale of data breaches, combined with the speed and reach of bots, there is a consensus that the worst is yet to come. This highlights the risk with using the same password for multiple accounts. If one account was to be compromised, a cyber criminal would be able to access all the other accounts a user may have. However, there are ways to add extra security to reduce the chances of an account being accessed by cyber criminals.

Added protection

One security measure is the text message authentication system, which notifies a user when their device has been attempted to be logged into from another location. However, unfortunately there are only a small number of consumers that use this extra security measure. Another security measure which is on the rise is biometric authentication, a method used to confirm a user against their physical traits, for example fingerprint recognition. This extra layer of security makes credential stuffing attacks pointless as, regardless of whether your username and password are originally stolen, the cyber criminals cannot access the account without your biometric data.

Necessary precautions

To protect your personal data, add an extra layer of security to your account. Add a text messaging notification to alarm you if another user tries to log into your account or you can try to stop credential stuffing attacks in their tracks by using finger print recognition or voice recognition software.