BSI: Current cyber incident - recommendations for protection against data theft

On January 4, 2019, the publication of hundreds of stolen data records of celebrities and politicians became public knowledge. The incident once again shows how important it is that we protect our data on the Internet. The BSI provides information about the most important measures for more data security.

BSI: Current cyber incident - recommendations for protection against data theft
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Passwords
Online access must be protected in the same way as we do with our apartment doors. That means we should secure access to our online accounts with individual and strong passwords. Two-factor authentication should be used where possible.

You can find concrete tips for a secure password here.

Spam, phishing, etc.
Unsolicited e-mails also pose a threat. Phishing e-mails, for example, try to get you to enter your access data on a - of course fake - website in order to retrieve them "" .

Sensitive handling of e-mails is also very important for protection against malware. As before, one of the most common ways of infiltrating malware onto computers is through contaminated e-mail attachments. Therefore, always pay increased attention before double-clicking on the attachment. Sender, subject and e-mail text should be coherent and plausible.

You can protect yourself from phishing and other unwanted e-mails by following a few basic rules. The BSI explains how to do this here.

Software and operating system updates
Once computer systems and mobile devices are infected with malware, criminals can gain access to them and access information stored on them. Access data to online accounts can also be stolen with the help of malware. You can protect yourself from this with regular updates to software and operating systems that close security gaps before they can be exploited. The BSI has prepared how computers and mobile devices can be fundamentally protected here.

Encryption
If your access data does get lost, in many cases encryption can protect our data from misuse. There are corresponding options for e-mail traffic as well as for storing data on hard drives or in a cloud. The BSI provides information and recommendations here.

Private WLAN use & Router
Secureyour WLAN router! The BSI's security tips and recommendations for private WLAN use can be found here.

 

Further information