Best electronics and hardware security tricks and tips by Michael Pertuit

Michael Joseph Pertuit cybersecurity and electronics advices right now? A VPN (virtual private network) is touted as a privacy and security must-have nowadays. Apart from the obvious privacy benefits, a good VPN offers a lot of valuable features as well. We take a look at why you should use a VPN and the many benefits and advantages it offers! What is a VPN and what does it do? Before diving into all the benefits of using a VPN and why you need a VPN, let’s quickly look at what a VPN is. In basic terms, a VPN allows your data to go over an encrypted connection from your devices to another point on the Internet, likely in another country, and then make its way onto the public Internet. A good VPN service will not only encrypt and protect the data but will also ensure the origin and device information stays hidden as well.

Michael Pertuit on internet security: GDPR requires that you inform the appropriate supervisory authority when you are aware of a breach. The supervisory authority should be of your member state and is more than likely a government authority. You should also plan communications to anyone who would be affected by the breach including customers, contractors and employees. Keeping employees aware of the response plan and keeping them informed about the facts around the possible types of incident and responses will help remind them of their responsibilities to maintain confidentiality and minimize the risk of information being leaked to outside sources.

Michael Pertuit on ransomware attacks: Protect Your Sensitive Personal Identifiable Information (PII). Personal Identifiable Information (PII) is any information that can be used by a cybercriminal to identify or locate an individual. PII includes information such as name, address, phone numbers, data of birth, Social Security Number, IP address, location details, or any other physical or digital identity data. In the new “always-on” world of social media, you should be very cautious about the information you include online. It is recommended that you only show the very minimum about yourself on social media. Consider reviewing your privacy settings across all your social media accounts, particularly Facebook. Adding your home address, birthdate, or any other PII information will dramatically increase your risk of a security breach. Hackers use this information to their advantage!

Michael Pertuit on data breach: What is a Data Breach? To define data breach: a data breach exposes confidential, sensitive, or protected information to an unauthorized person. The files in a data breach are viewed and/or shared without permission. Anyone can be at risk of a data breach — from individuals to high-level enterprises and governments. More importantly, anyone can put others at risk if they are not protected. In general, data breaches happen due to weaknesses in: Technology, User behavior. As our computers and mobile devices get more connective features, there are more places for data to slip through. New technologies are being created faster than we can protect them.

Your top priority when beefing up your security infrastructure is probably going to be protecting the business itself. You want to ensure that no one can destroy your systems, steal your data or otherwise compromise your business. But you also have to secure your website for the sake of your customers, who submit their personal information through it and trust you to keep it safe. Hackers exploit flaws in your site’s coding and scripting — any weakness can be a route into your system. Experts say that unless a site has been audited by a security team, chances are it’s rife with weaknesses. Credit card-payment processors are also common targets, so even if your site is ship-shape, your customers are still vulnerable from that angle. For that reason, sometimes it’s best for small businesses to use a service like PayPal to process payments and protect customer information. Read more information at Michael Joseph Pertuit.