{"id":54152,"date":"2016-08-24T18:23:15","date_gmt":"2016-08-24T18:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?p=54152"},"modified":"2016-08-25T16:08:33","modified_gmt":"2016-08-25T16:08:33","slug":"cyber-security-threats-stay-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyber Security Threats – How To Stay Safe"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/h3>\n

With the growing cyber security threats, PC users need to know how to stay safe…<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

Cyber security threats are growing every day.\u00a0 Whether it is a new ransomware variant, company breaches,\u00a0tech support scams, or fraud scams.\u00a0 Here is what you need to do to stay safe:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Update, update and update some more – Check your PC for updates that need to be made to your operating system, applications and security software.\u00a0 If anything is outdated, it can leave an open door for cyber criminals.\u00a0 Many times, when vulnerabilities are patched, those vulnerabilities are exposed.\u00a0 This means the hackers know exactly how to get into your system.\u00a0 You must update your systems as soon as those updates are available.<\/li>\n
  2. Implement application whitelisting technology as your PC security solution – Many security software solutions use a blacklist approach to keep your computer protected.\u00a0 This method has become obsolete with growing threat of ransomware and polymorphic viruses.\u00a0 By using a whitelist approach<\/a>, only secure programs are able to run; blocking all unwanted and unknown programs from running.<\/li>\n
  3. Knowledge is power – PC users must be aware of what to look for when it comes to cyber security.\u00a0 This means quarterly training on what red flags to look for in phishing scams, access administration, social engineering.<\/li>\n
  4. Back up your data – Remediation is not an option against many of today’s cyber security threats.\u00a0 Therefore, you must be sure to back up your data on an external storage device on a daily basis.\u00a0 Also, be sure to unplug the external device once the back up is complete.\u00a0 If your\u00a0back up device is plugged in at the time of a malware attack, the hackers could also infect your back ups as well.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    These four steps will help to ensure your safety against today’s cyber security threats.\u00a0 Stay safe out there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    With the growing cyber security threats, PC users need to know how to stay safe…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":53503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4949,5000],"tags":[4904],"class_list":["post-54152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ransomware","category-ransomwarewar","tag-cyber-security-threats"],"yoast_head":"\nCyber Security Threats - How To Stay Safe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Keeping yourself and data safe against cyber security threats has never been more critical. Follow these four steps to ensure your safety...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cyber Security Threats - How To Stay Safe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Keeping yourself and data safe against cyber security threats has never been more critical. Follow these four steps to ensure your safety...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PC Matic Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-24T18:23:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-08-25T16:08:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/CyberSecurity.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"259\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"194\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kayla Elliott\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kayla Elliott\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kayla Elliott\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4a11f480158af9f8090d8d90e0de8db\"},\"headline\":\"Cyber Security Threats – How To Stay Safe\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-24T18:23:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-25T16:08:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":316,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/CyberSecurity.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Cyber Security Threats\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Ransomware\",\"RansomwareWar\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cyber Security Threats - How To Stay Safe\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/CyberSecurity.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-24T18:23:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-25T16:08:33+00:00\",\"description\":\"Keeping yourself and data safe against cyber security threats has never been more critical. Follow these four steps to ensure your safety...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/CyberSecurity.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/CyberSecurity.jpg\",\"width\":259,\"height\":194},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cyber Security Threats – How To Stay Safe\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"PC Matic Blog\",\"description\":\"Tech Tips and Tricks\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png\",\"width\":1535,\"height\":483,\"caption\":\"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA.\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/pcmatic\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/pcmatic\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/pcmaticusa\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/pcmatic\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/c\\\/PCMaticVideo\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4a11f480158af9f8090d8d90e0de8db\",\"name\":\"Kayla Elliott\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/kayla\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cyber Security Threats - How To Stay Safe","description":"Keeping yourself and data safe against cyber security threats has never been more critical. Follow these four steps to ensure your safety...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cyber Security Threats - How To Stay Safe","og_description":"Keeping yourself and data safe against cyber security threats has never been more critical. Follow these four steps to ensure your safety...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\/","og_site_name":"PC Matic Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic","article_published_time":"2016-08-24T18:23:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-08-25T16:08:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":259,"height":194,"url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/CyberSecurity.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kayla Elliott","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@pcmatic","twitter_site":"@pcmatic","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kayla Elliott","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\/"},"author":{"name":"Kayla Elliott","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d4a11f480158af9f8090d8d90e0de8db"},"headline":"Cyber Security Threats – How To Stay Safe","datePublished":"2016-08-24T18:23:15+00:00","dateModified":"2016-08-25T16:08:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\/"},"wordCount":316,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/CyberSecurity.jpg","keywords":["Cyber Security Threats"],"articleSection":["Ransomware","RansomwareWar"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\/","name":"Cyber Security Threats - How To Stay Safe","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/CyberSecurity.jpg","datePublished":"2016-08-24T18:23:15+00:00","dateModified":"2016-08-25T16:08:33+00:00","description":"Keeping yourself and data safe against cyber security threats has never been more critical. Follow these four steps to ensure your safety...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/CyberSecurity.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/CyberSecurity.jpg","width":259,"height":194},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/cyber-security-threats-stay-safe\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cyber Security Threats – How To Stay Safe"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/","name":"PC Matic Blog","description":"Tech Tips and Tricks","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA.","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png","width":1535,"height":483,"caption":"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA."},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic","https:\/\/x.com\/pcmatic","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pcmaticusa\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/pcmatic","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/PCMaticVideo"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d4a11f480158af9f8090d8d90e0de8db","name":"Kayla Elliott","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/author\/kayla\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}