Windows Antivirus Malwarebytes Windows 10 Antivirus

How to avoid being hacked

So basically, the forums have been flooded with people saying "I got hacked!" Hopefully, for those who are willing to read the wall of text below, this will help you to avoid being hacked. It goes over some different ways someone is hacked, then ways to avoid it.

I hope this helps!

[b]Spyware[/b]
[i]What is spyware?[/i]
Spyware is computer software that obtains information from a user's computer without the user's knowledge or consent. Spyware typically tracks your use and report this information to a remote location. The more malicious spyware programs may capture and report keystrokes, revealing passwords and personal information.
[i]How to get rid of it[/i]
Make sure that you clear your cookies on a regular basis. Often, there are small tracking cookies found on your computer left by websites which track what you do on the internet and report it to the website. These arent necessarily bad, but I personally dont like websites watching me. Gives me the heebeejeebeez.

Remove your cookies after each time you browse by going into your internet options, browsing history, and going to the delete option. There will be an option for deleting cookies.

Another good idea is to scan for spyware on a regular basis. You can do a quick scan (takes around 5-10 minutes) or a full scan (can take up to 1 hour) using Malware Bytes: Anti-Malware

http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_pro

[b]Social Engineers[/b]
A "social engineer" can work his/her way into your account by gaining one piece of information at a time, be careful not to let any of your information slip.
Its possible, trust me. I watched every single one of my email accounts be hacked before my eyes. It took them litterly 5-10 minutes to steal all of my personal information, and accounts. Make sure to secure your information when online. Avoid putting too much detailed information about your name, location, and history on websites such as Facebook.

[i]Tips/Hints[/i]
Avoid using the same e-mail for facebook and other accounts.
Make sure, that if you have a facebook account to ensure its' security is changed from HTTP to HTTPS. Facebook changed its security settings a while back making it possible to turn your site into an HTTPS. See below for how:
-Go to Account(Its in the top right corner of the page)
-Now click Account Settings
-Go to Account Security and press change
-Click "Secure Browsing (https)" and press Save.
-This will give some needed security to your facebook page

[b]Make yourself secure:[/b]
[i]E-Mail[/i]
Many people use HOTMAIL as their main e-mail provider, but Im sure that these extra security ideas can be adapted to work for any provider.
Make sure that you set up the alternate e-mail address option when it comes to the password reset. Make this an e-mail which is only used to reset this one password. Usually, you will need to go into it to confirm that it is a reliable email. By doing this, the hacker, unless they gain access to this account as well, will be unable to remove the email and you will always be able to retrieve your password through a password reset.

[i]Your password[/i]
Try and make your password something that isnt easily guessed, for example, your favorite food or the actual word "password" is not a good idea. By putting the password to something which is easily related to you, a "social engineer" can easily guess your password and gain access to your account. The same goes for your secret question. The more complex your password is, the better. Instead of having something like "Orange" as your password, turn it into something like "1LikE0RanGe$!Th3yRG0oD!" Yes, it is a lot harder to remember but with time you will remember it easily and this password will be a lot more difficult to hack.

[i]G-Mail Double Authorization[/i]
G-mail has recently added a new feature which allows you to have a double authentication when it comes to logging in. When logging in, you use your user id/password, but before you can actually log in it will send a text to your phone with a special number required for login. Without this number, you cannot access the email. Each login sends a new number.

[b]Your Secret Question (Email and Nexon Account)[/b]
In many cases, the answer to this secret question can easily be gained through knowing you personally (eg. What year did you graduate from highschool?). A good way of making sure that no one would know the answer is DONT actually answer the question. Put a random word that only you would remember that has nothing to do with the question at all. Or even better, make the answer a word in a DIFFERENT language. Hackers will be unlikely to guess either of these and it will help make your account even more secure.
If you dont like the idea of using just a word, make it a sentence. You can include capitols and symbols in many cases. Why not have your question be "What is your favorite quote?" and answer it with "One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish.", for example.

[b]Web of Trust[/b]
Before going to a website, you can check to see its rating by going to www.mywot.com. This website tracks reviews of other websites. You are able to see a sites rating, whether or not it has spyware, whether or not they scam etc. It is a great resource for when you are on the internet.

[b]Virus Scans[/b]
Often, as I know from personal experience, we let the liscense run out on our virus scan programs. In many cases, it is because we think that it will still work properly even when it has expired, or we dont have the funds/time to go get a new key-code to update it to the newest version. In the past, I have used many free virus scan programs, however, this is the most reliable that I have found.

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Housecall by TrendMicro is safe and reliable, and I have see it used first hand by many IT departments at large organizations. Unlike many free virus scan programs you can find on the net, this one scans AND removes any threats that are on your computer. You should scan your computer on a regular basis even if you have updated virus software. You never know when something may have got past your firewall.

[b]Lock your account[/b]
Previously, many people used a method of locking their account where they used a special character while changing their password. Nexon has currently removed this method. There is a new way of locking your account using a downloaded program. In order to use this method, you MUST have access to the e-mail account assigned to your Nexon Account. This method locks your account making it so that no one can log into your account, including yourself unless you create a new password through the link sent to your email.
In order to do this, you will need to download HotSpot Shield. I recommend the one found on CNet (download.cnet.com/hotspot-shield/). Many people, including myself have downloaded this one and used it. We have not found any problems with it to date. As always, scan downloaded programs for viruses if you are unsure of their safety.
How to lock your account(This will lock it, so make sure you have access to the email when you do this):
After you have downloaded HotSpot Shield,
run Maplestory as an administrator.
After the game has started, turn on HotSpot Shield. Log into your account as you normally would. (Using your User ID/Password).
Click login.
It will say "Trouble logging in .... "
Click it again, if it says this again your account is locked.
Close the game, turn off HotSpot Shield.

How to unlock your account:
Log into your account on the Maplestory website as you normally would. It will send a link to your email requesting you change password. Change your password and you have access to your account once again.

Hope this helps some people, because Im tired of seeing all the "I was hacked" threads. Hopefully, if some people review this, it will avoid such as huge amount of these threads.