It seems that as each day goes by, crazier and crazier things are happening. The latest event was the massive Twitter attack which happened in July 2020. But with everything else going on, most people didn’t give it much thought. They just changed their passwords and went on with their day. Okay, so those with millions of Twitter followers were targeted, but how does that affect regular people like you and me? Sadly, it has everything to do with us.
According to FBI investigators, hackers were able to upload fake bitcoin deals (which promised to return double the amount of money people paid the hackers) to 130 accounts – all because an employee at Twitter made a mistake. This employee clicked on a link that he or she wasn’t supposed to, opening the door for hackers to tweet a fraudulent scam that reached millions of people.
Now, you may be thinking, “I would have never clicked on that link” or “I knew that Tweet was a scam,” but hey, to err is human, right? Every part of this attack occurred because of a human error, and every single one of us could have fallen for it. It’s why hackers prey on us in the first place. They know that eventually, someone will slip up. That’s why it’s more important than ever that we protect ourselves against these threats.
Hackers Are Evolving
This time, hackers went after money, but that’s not always the case. Once a hacker with the help of a virus (or without) takes hold of your computer, the possibilities are endless. They can steal your identity, obtain bank or credit card information, or even use your camera to spy on you and your kids. Hackers have resorted to using psychology to manipulate people into doing whatever they want.
Whether it’s clicking on a virus-ridden link or sending money to a shady website, hackers rely on human error to get the job done. In fact, according to a study by IBM, human error accounts for 95 percent of all cyber-crime. Now I know you probably think that you can spot a fake website from a mile away, but let me tell you, you’re wrong. Hackers are getting better and better at outsmarting even the best of us.
Listen, my computer is my whole life. It has my online banking information, work files, and all of my digital photos. I personally can’t afford to take any risks, so I’ve been using Guardio to protect myself against identity theft, phishing, and malware attacks. The Chrome extension eliminates human error by blocking my entry to websites that it determines are a threat. It’s honestly been a lifesaver.
New Scams on the Horizon
Like a game of Whac-A-Mole, as soon as one scam or virus is squashed, another one pops up. It’s a never-ending cycle. Today, hackers have also started to create Chrome extensions as a ruse to secretly steal your data. And I’m not talking about random extensions that were found on the web. I’m talking about ones that were added directly from the Chrome Web Store. In June 2020, Google announced that it removed 106 malicious or fake extensions from its digital storefront.
Instead of doing what they were intended to do, these extensions were used to spy on users. They had the ability to take screenshots, steal login details, and even capture passwords as users typed them. According to Awake Security, these malicious extensions were downloaded 32 million times, making it the most far-reaching Chrome Web Store security breach to date. Hackers designed the extensions in such a way that they evaded detection from regular anti-virus and security software, which shows how quickly and easily hackers are evolving. This, again, brings me to my whole point, which is that we must must protect ourselves online.
Guardio Has My Back
Like most millennials, I never thought of the consequences of living electronically. But in this day and age, hackers and scammers are everywhere, and we must protect ourselves. I found out about Guardio through a friend, and honestly, I couldn’t be happier. For those who haven’t heard of it, Guardio is the only in-browser anti-virus Chrome extension on the market. It eliminates the chance of accidentally downloading malware or falling for phishing attacks by acting as a preemptive security measure. Guardio scans every website I want to visit and every Chrome extension I want to download and blocks my entry if it senses a threat.
But my favorite Guardio feature is definitely the email monitoring. I’ll be the first to admit that I used to hand out my Gmail address to anyone who asked for it. When I added the Guardio extension, it checked every website with my email address on file and then alerted me of three websites with prior data breaches. LinkedIn, Canva, and the popular music streaming service 8tracks had millions of exposed emails and passwords. After receiving Guardio’s report, I immediately changed my passwords.
The Bottom Line
Guardio is a lightweight but hard-working cybersecurity solution for all Chrome users. It is very reliable at detecting malicious websites and covers all of my social media accounts, without slowing down my browser. Since it’s a Chrome extension, I only needed to install it once, and I can use it on any computer once I log into my Chrome account.
From the simple dashboard navigation to the straightforward settings, Guardio was designed with the user in mind. If you’re looking for a flexible and lightweight browser security solution, Guardio is the way to go. You can download Guardio by clicking on this link.