Full Guide to Cybersecurity For College Students

Cybersecurity For College Students

The young generation cannot do without smartphones and Internet connection: it just makes them feel handless. In addition to entertainment purposes and means of communication, for high school seniors and college students, smartphones serve as a source of information and educational help. Thus, they use the Internet for remote education, research for content, download different apps that help in performing tasks, and use writing services like speedypaper to cope with writing assignments. With all these benefits we get from integrating digital technologies into our everyday lives, there are still certain risks that become a concern for teachers, students, and their parents, and one of them is online safety.

Possible Dangers to Face Online

If you spend all your time not letting your smartphone off your hands (whether to chat with a friend or order an essay from essaypro writing agency), learning and practicing cybersecurity rules is essential to live safe in the 21st century. It will prevent your devices from hacking, computer viruses, cyber phishing, stealing of identity and sensitive data, and other «pleasant things» that can ruin your reputation, to name a few. With frequent use of public Wi-Fi networks and strangers’ turnaround in the dorm, students become perfect victims for hackers. In addition, they believe in such popular myths as:

  • IT department takes care of it.» Well, probably this may be true as there are guys responsible for keeping college Wi-Fi networks from hackers and data breaches. But can you trust them so much to store sensitive information and entering CC data? Computer viruses impact our devices like diseases infect the human body, and this is your responsibility to keep it safe;
  • I will just unplug.» If you disconnect from the Wi-Fi network and graduate without using the Internet at all, you will be a hero. Your devices need to be updated, you need apps to be downloaded and your works to be checked and graded, so forget about it;
  • I have nothing to be stolen.» It is your opinion. Hackers will be happy to use your social security number, steal your identity or take a loan in the bank from your name;
  • It is all about money.» Not true. Even though many hackers are motivated with money, some of them just enjoy watching the chaos your life turns into.

Top useful habits to protect your information:

1. Protect your hardware

Have you ever left your laptop in the library or dorm room to get another espresso? Or maybe you left your phone at a college party? You are wrong to believe that nothing could happen as over 11K robberies happen on college campuses. To avoid any troubles, make a habit of backing the data upon the portable hard drive, locking it up with a laptop lock (passwords are too easy to guess) or setting a Geo tracker;

2. Protect your Software

Check your password on the list of top popular ones. Found it? Then change it immediately. Having one password to all your accounts is at least unwise, so make use of password managers to generate and store unique combinations for different accounts. Use two-factor authentication based on your phone number to create two-level protection. Avoid using public Wi-Fi networks preferring a virtual private network and don`t click on suspicious links you receive in messages and emails.

What is your identity has been stolen? First of all, notify your college, bank, credit card company (depending on where the fraud has occurred): you should be the one to initiate the conversation. Freeze your accounts immediately and change all the passwords to all accounts and devices. Notify all major credit reporting agencies that your identity has been stolen to protect yourself from any charges.

If they did happen, dispute these charges as soon as you have noticed them. Get in touch with local law enforcement to complete the process. As you can see, even if you do everything to protect yourself from cyber attacks, you can still suffer from hackers. Don`t panic and notify all institutions to clarify the situation.

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