Is internet fully safe? These 10 ways to keep hackers at bay

The Internet is wide enough to inform us everything but it, not the safest place to stay too. We are seeing a number of attacks everyday from opportunists trying to extract passwords through phishing, emails, messages, sms, pop-ups etc which appear (just appear) to be from legitimate sources and attempt to get us to click on an infected link. These are the highly organised crime units targeting businesses and government systems in an effort to steal intellectual property and information related to critical infrastructure.

Pawan Duggal, Cyber Security expert told Zee Business Online, "India has not made any positive changes to cyber laws after 2008, hacking has been changed to a bailable offense, which is a serious threat to our internet users in an internet era. The government should look into this matter seriously and amend cyber laws, making it a punishable non-bailable offence."

Although we cannot live much longer without our smartphones in our palms, these days, we need to be extremely careful because they could be a lot more vulnerable than we might even think. Hacking is no longer just an intriguing subject for discussed in news, movies or workshops, it has become a serious threat to our life as the Internet knows everything. Yes everything about us!

Follow these 10 steps to remain safe on the internet:

1. Make sure your password is strong and consists of numbers and special characters.

2. Do not use internet banking at internet cafes as their system may hack your account details.

3. Do not share your live locations on social media. 

4. Do not give your credit card or account details to some other person, when they are booking or buying on your behalf. 

5. Un-tick the 'Remember me' option while using social websites or application and log out after use. 

6. Enter your own mobile number after entering passenger details, to get the OTPs. 

7. Never click on a link you did not expect to receive 

8. Install a good quality anti-virus software on your PC and mobile. 

9.  Ignore pop-ups on websites, as they redirects you to another link or fraudulent web portals. 

10. Don't use public WiFi for payment services online.  

There are various kinds of phone hacking ways, starting from hacking into a live conversation and into someone’s voicemail to hacking into data stored on one’s smartphone. However the fear of the unknown can keep anyone on threat, the person can even hack into your life through your smartphone. 

In today’s mobile based internet world, phone hacking has seen a growth and it is a severe security issue. As people increasingly store sensitive and personal data on their mobile phones, the opportunity to exploit privacy weaknesses becomes more tempting to hackers worldwide.