Some of the questions we get asked the most here at VPNaccounts.com deal with the subject of cybercrimes. It seems like each day the major news outlets are reporting the story of another data breach that affects a major retail company like Home Depot or even an online social platform like Instagram. Even Apple has not been immune to the acts of cybercriminals. In August of 2014 hackers were able to breach Apple’s iCloud, the file storage app for iPhone users, and they managed to leak over 500 private photos of various celebrities.
Some of them were nude photos, and the celebrities affected—including Hunger Games star, Jennifer Lawrence—suffered a bit of embarrassment. here
These things happen every day. Many cybercrimes go unreported by the major news outlets. People are far less interested in reading about how the average person had their banking information stolen or their credit card numbers posted for sale on a hacker website, but these are real problems that could affect you if you aren’t taking the necessary steps to secure your data by using a VPN and employing other security measures.
What are cybercrimes?
We tend to think of cybercrimes as instances where someone steals bank account or credit card information and uses that information illegally to make purchases, transfer money, or otherwise rob an unsuspecting victim. This is certainly criminal activity, but it only scratches the surface. Some cybercrimes go virtually undetected but can be just as damaging to you if you become a victim.
One of the favorite activities of hackers is to simply hack your email for the purposes of sending spam messages to thousands of people. Spamming others via email is prohibited by every email provider. Instead of using an address they own, some cybercriminals will attempt to access your email platform for the purpose of sending out spam emails. These emails will sometimes contain a link that, when clicked, downloads malicious software to a user’s system. Sometimes the emails sent are of the scam variety that tell someone they have a large sum of money being held in trust. You’ve seen these types of emails. More often than not the person listed as the sender of this email has no clue that their email address is being used in this manner.
Hackers also love to breach your social media accounts and any other website that asks you to register an account? Why? Because many people use the same username and password across multiple platforms. If you do this and a cybercriminal manages to hack just one of your accounts, they could then sign in to your Facebook, Twitter, Gmail or any of the other platforms you use on a regular basis. Here you can read more about cybercrimes.
Is VPN a cybercrime solution?
The answer to this question is a resounding yes. Personal data security begins with the way you are protecting the information your share across the Internet. If you are using an unsecured Internet connection, your data is at risk. Almost everyone knows that. The problem is that many people think the only unsecured connections are the ones you will find at a local coffee shop or Internet café. An alarming number of Internet users, however, fail to take measures to secure their own networks at home! If you have not implemented security measures that prohibit someone from using your connection, your data could be exposed at any time.
Now, you can easily set a password on your home Internet connection that will go a long way toward preventing unauthorized access, but that is only one measure of security. That does nothing to actually encrypt the data you share online once you are connected. If you want to be sure that personal data is not being read by a third party, you need to make sure that this data is encrypted.
VPN’s encrypt data transmission. That is the primary purpose they serve. The technology is more complex than that, of course, but forget about all of the fluff you read on the Internet about VPN technology. The average person just wants to know how a VPN increases security. It does that through encryption. Without devolving into a technical discussion, encryption simply means that your data is made unreadable by the system of someone that is trying to steal it.
Are you at risk for cybercrime?
Do you use the Internet? Do you fail to use a VPN to hide your browsing activity? If you answered yes then you are at risk. End of story. No one is going to wave a magic wand over your computer and protect it for you. You must accept that responsibility and take action yourself. Don’t become a victim. In just a few moments from now you could be using your new VPNaccounts.com service to browse the Internet without worrying about who is looking over your shoulder.