Today’s digital revolution brings countless benefits to everyone worldwide. But it has also opened up various opportunities for cybersecurity threats to prey on unsuspecting individuals, like the elderly. As modern technology evolves rapidly, it’s crucial to equip older adults with the proper tools and know-how to protect them from hackers.

Let’s dive in and discuss the different cyberattacks the elderly should be wary of and what they can do to protect themselves.

Common Attacks to Watch Out For

The elderly could fall victim to cyberattacks without the right strategy and knowledge. Here’s a list of common cyberattacks they should know about and prepare for:

Malware attack

Malware is an umbrella term that describes viruses or any harmful program or code designed to harm systems and devices. Short for “malicious software,” these viruses invade, damage, or disable computers, networks, mobile devices, and more. They do this primarily by taking partial control of their operations.

Malware encompasses various malicious software. Some of the most notorious ones include ransomware or software that encrypts or blocks a target’s access to their data until they pay a significant amount of money in exchange for pass keys.

Another one is spyware, a malicious program that collects data about a user’s activities without knowledge or consent. Hackers use this software to gather passwords, pins, and payment information.

Lastly, there’s the Trojan. This malware disguises itself as a trustworthy code or program. Once users download this virus, they can take control of their systems and use it for malicious purposes. This virus hides in unverified apps, games, or software patches. In many cases, hackers embed Trojans in phishing email attachments. Sadly, many seniors lack the knowledge and skills to check if online files or applications are verified. Many download them without question, clueless to the dangers they may bring to their devices.

Phishing attack

Phishing attacks are one of the most widespread cybersecurity threats out there. For decades, they have terrorized unsuspecting victims and organizations into voluntarily providing personal and confidential information. Unfortunately, because of a lack of knowledge, many older adults fall victim to them.

This cybersecurity threat is a social engineering attack involving a threat actor or someone impersonating a trusted contact. These impersonators trick their targets through fraudulent messages like emails, text messages, or phone calls.

They aim to deceive people into downloading harmful software, sharing sensitive data, or taking any action that exposes them to other hackers. Aside from computer damage, people could fall victim to identity theft. In worse cases, hackers could sell their victims’ sensitive data on black markets.

Password attack

The first line for safeguarding oneself against hackers is a password. A huge number of the elderly population doesn’t realize how sophisticated hackers have become at cracking passwords. Once these hackers gain access to any device, there’s no stopping them from using the information they gather for malicious purposes.

Nowadays, an assortment of password attacks can happen to anyone. There’s the brute-force attack, where hackers use trial-and-error to guess a user’s password. With this attack, hackers will try all possible combinations until they find the right one. It’s an old technique that continues to be effective for hackers, especially if their targets, like many seniors, choose basic password combinations.

Similarly, hackers use what is referred to as the “dictionary attack” to guess passwords based on simple words or word combinations. This method relies on people’s habit of picking common words as their passwords because they’re more convenient or easy to remember.

Lastly, some hackers use keyloggers to guess people’s passwords. Keyloggers are malware designed to track every keystroke or shortcut used on a device. These programs would then report back to a hacker to try and use these keys to guess the passwords. Keyloggers are often downloaded as Trojans or viruses disguised as legitimate software.

Protecting the Elderly from Cyberattacks

Understanding the many cybersecurity threats is critical to preventing them. Aside from that, older adults can also take various preventive measures to protect themselves from hacking attempts. Besides installing a powerful antivirus program, they must take the following steps to protect themselves against many cyberattacks:

Create a robust password

As you may know, passwords are the first line of defense against hackers. Using basic ones, like words fished out of dictionaries or information like names or birthdays, is like giving hackers a key to the door.

A strong password uses different elements to create a hard-to-guess combination. Experts advise that it should combine uppercase and lowercase characters, numbers, and symbols. It must also be at least 12 characters or more for good measure.

Additionally, it’s ideal for online users to change passwords at least once every three to six months. However, that can be broken if they suspect someone already knows their password. In that case, they should change it immediately.

A skeptical approach to various online content can help protect seniors from cybersecurity attacks. They must never click on or engage in any suspicious link or attachment sent on messaging platforms or published on multiple social media pages. They should ignore these regardless of whether they know the sender or how inviting the headline is.

Cybercriminals will always try to trick online users into clicking malicious links. That’s why older adults must be cautious before accessing them. The best thing they can do is hover their mouse pointers over the link to reveal its destination in the pop-up information. That way, they can inspect the link’s URL or destination page without clicking. They must never click on the URL if it looks suspicious or unfamiliar.

It’s also vital to verify the source first. Threat actors often impersonate companies, friends, and organizations to deceive unsuspecting users. Clueless seniors can fact-check the message by visiting the verified page of the one the actor is mimicking through a trusted search engine. They must confirm the information sent to them before clicking anything. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t.

Stay away from pop-up ads

For years, pop-up ads have been preying on unsuspecting older adults on the internet, exposing them to malware and other attacks. Pop-up ads have always been linked to cybersecurity threats like phishing. So, it’s advisable to avoid them at all costs.

The good news is that online users can download and install ad-blocker software that automatically blocks most malicious pop-ups. If some manage to go through these programs, always ignore them.

Meanwhile, some pop-up ads deceive people into clicking a “close” button, which turns out to be a trick button. People should never click on this. They must try to look for an “X” button in one of the ad’s corners instead.

Empower the Elderly Against Cybersecurity Threats

Teaching family or close friends how to protect themselves against cybersecurity threats has become more crucial than ever, especially for senior adults. We’ve heard countless stories of them falling victim to different online attacks and losing significant amounts of money and data in the process. Empowering seniors with the proper knowledge, strategies, and tools can help ensure their safety so hackers cannot dupe them ever again.