I was at a tech conference last week and had the great pleasure to sit down for a chat with the brilliant Bharat Bhise HNA. Bharat has worked in cybersecurity for many years and he is widely respected in the industry for the work that he has done with many companies. The theme of our conversation was private individuals and how susceptible so many are to being hacked. As we add more things to our lives such as smart gadgets and cloud computing, we are constantly opening ourselves more up to an attack. Many think that this won’t happen to them but the reality is that it happens more than you would think, and it often doesn’t require much skill for a hacker to breach a home network. To reinforce the need for security in your home, here is what a hacker can do if you let them gain access to your computer or to your home network.
Financial Theft
The first thing to mention is that a hacker who has access to your computer can quite easily steal credit card information which they can then use to spend money and buy items. Beyond this however they can also use all of the personal information which they find on your computer, to open up bank accounts and credit cards, or even take loans out. Many people are protected by their banks against credit card fraud, but in the case of opening up new cards and accounts there is a lot less protection. Not only can they steal money from you, they will also destroy your credit score, which even in the case of a hack can take years to rectify.
Identity Fraud
More often than not it is not the hackers who are looking to do illicit things with your personal information, they will generally look to sell the information which they have found. This is where a lot of identity fraud takes place and your information can be used for all manner of criminal activity. In the best case scenario someone uses your information for financial gain, in the worst situation your information could be used to help a terrorist organization.
Repeat Attacks
In many cases you will not even know that you have been hacked, until it is too late. Unfortunately what a lot of hackers look to do is to leave access on your computer or network so that they can come back at a later date. If you haven’t reacted to the hack by completely cleaning the computer and installing high level security software, then the damage can be done all over again in the future.
Hacks can happen very easily and if you are not properly protected, these are just some of the things that can happen when a hacker gains access to your computer. Don’t run the risk, get your computer and your network protected today with some good security software.
