How do you protect yourself from cyber attacks and SPAM?

Do you get a lot of unwanted messages in your email every day? Have you had to deal with attacks on your Web site more than once? Unfortunately, but cybercrime is booming, which doesn’t mean you have to be a victim of it. By betting on the right services, you can definitely reduce the problem or even rule it out. How to protect yourself from cyber attacks and SPAM?

Cyber attacks – what are they based on?

Various methods of attack are used on the Web. Often this is done through malware, such as a script or application, which hits the server, exactly where the website is located. It causes specific consequences depending on what the hackers’ goal is. As a rule, accessing such a site involves infecting the site user’s computer, unless the user has software that detects malicious code. The consequence can even be data theft. Thousands of people’s bank accounts have already been cleaned out on such a basis.

Not long ago there was an attack on the dating app Omiai. The data of about 1.7 million customers was accessed. The server on which the service was running was hacked several times in the month preceding the theft.

In 2021, criminals managed to steal data from the United Nations. In 2014, on the other hand, a US government database was infected, as a result of which sensitive information on some 21 million Americans ended up in the hands of hackers. In all likelihood, this was the largest attack in US history – with serious consequences.

During the war in Ukraine, you have certainly heard repeatedly about attacks by international groups on institutions in Russia – moreover, these actions were successful.

The scale of the problems is growing every year. Which countries are most often targeted by cyber attacks? Well, the United States is the clear leader.

The absence of Poland on the list does not mean that we have nothing to fear. At the same time, a doubt may arise – since successful cyber attacks are carried out on US or Russian government sites, is the ordinary server hosting your site able to ensure data security? There are no machines connected to the network where there is no risk of an attack, but a huge influence on whether it will be successful is the protection that the server provides.

More often than not, bots are responsible for hacking machines, checking if, for example, a vulnerability plugin is installed on the site. If so, they exploit the vulnerability and inject malicious code. The consequences of this action already depend on what the infected software’s job was. If there is no good antivirus protection on the server, it is possible that even for months files with malicious code will be on the hosting account and you will not be aware of it. Thus, subsequent visits by Internet users may end up with their devices becoming infected. You should do everything in your power to prevent such a situation.

Hosting choice vs. cyber attacks

What kind of server your websites are hosted on has a significant impact on whether malicious code gets into the sites. Therefore, when choosing a service, you should pay attention to solutions that enhance data security. Here are sample suggestions:

• Two-factor authentication – it consists in the fact that a username and password are not enough to log in to, for example, the site’s administration panel. Another verification comes in, which may involve, for example, entering a code from an SMS sent to your phone number. Otherwise, you may need confirmation in the app. This is a security feature used by banks, among others.
• Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware Scanner – a very good example of such a solution is Imunify360. It’s an advanced firewall that deals with known and unknown malware, brute-force attacks, DoS and port scanning. It is a comprehensive, if not the best, server protection.

These security features are available as part of the kru.pl hosting offer. Test the server for free for 14 days – no obligation!

Hosting protection is not everything. You can also protect your devices at your business and home from attacks. To do this, we offer you ITH NaaS Firewall, a security feature that gives you multiple functions such as:

• Web filtering – blocking access to certain websites on the company’s network,
• Recognizing applications and their components,
• Blocking botnet traffic to infected devices,
• preventing access to network resources by blocking selected DNS queries,
• secure connection to corporate resources through an encrypted tunnel.

At your disposal can be a virtual solution or a device installed in the ITH Data Center.

How to protect yourself from SPAM?

Unsolicited e-mails are a scourge, although the number of those that actually reach the recipients is not that high, but it all depends on whether you use a solidly secured and configured e-mail. Remember that the messages that come to you are not only advertisements, but also emails aimed at stealing data. Some statistics can be downright scary. According to Earthweb, more than 47 percent of messages sent in 2021 are attempted phishing attacks.

Source: https://earthweb.com/blog/how-many-phishing-emails-are-sent-daily/

As much as 94 percent of malware is delivered to recipients just by e-mail.

Source: https://99firms.com/blog/spam-statistics/#gref

So, as you can see, the problem of SPAM is a serious one, and you should take advantage of the opportunities available to protect yourself from it. The same goes for mail users on your domain – you need to protect them from unwanted messages, and this doesn’t have to be as difficult as it may seem. As long as you use a hosting company that provides robust mail security, you can keep the SPAM problem to a minimum. These solutions are:

• Anti-SPAM scanner – this is a filter that scans emails and, based on this, assesses the probability that it is SPAM. Its effectiveness is estimated at about 98 percent. Importantly, the application learns and, given enough sample messages, is able to filter mail even more effectively.
• SPF – or Sender Policy Framework. This is one of the safeguards against phishing. In this case, the recipient’s server checks that the IP is assigned to send emails from addresses in a specific domain.
• DKIM – or DomainKeys Identified Mail. This is an additional protection that confirms whether a message was sent from an authorized server. It is used to digitally sign emails.
• DMARC – Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance. This is in addition to the previous security features. With it, you can define whether emails from a given domain must be signed. You also specify what the recipient server should do in case there is no signature.

All these solutions increase the security of mail users – they protect against phishing attacks, and generally reduce the number of unwanted messages that will reach you. As long as you configure them properly, it is likely that SPAM will appear in your mailbox only occasionally.

So, as you can see, choosing services that provide solid security against attacks is crucial. Don’t bet on the first better hosting. Take advantage of the test period and see if the protection works as expected. It’s worth taking this step – avoiding having your account hacked and your site infected means saving time, money and overall – less risk of trouble.