Data has become the oil of the new age and most of us have likely realized that this oil is even more valuable than the fuels that run our cars and power our houses. Because of the fortune that can be gained from stealing and selling private information, it is no longer safe to just email things online.
The only time you should send an email without first securing it is when you are ready to leave this world. Hackers are always waiting to steal your identity, money, and any other thing that might be useful for their fortune-building but disastrous to you.
So, make sure to keep your mind on secure file transfer whenever you wish to send off an email. Thus, you can share files securely and never have to worry about hackers invading your privacy, stealing your identity, or emptying your bank accounts.
The best way to send files securely is to encrypt them beforehand. This requires choosing a secure password and suitable file transfer encryption option. Knowing this, we have compiled this semi-brief article.
After reading this article, you will know how to secure a file and how to securely send files via email. Also, you will realize and take advantage of the various means that will lock all your information away from the reach of hackers, the dark web, and every other element that is just waiting to take a bite out of you.
Is It Safe to Send Sensitive Data as an Email Attachment?
The short answer is no, it is not safe to send sensitive data as an email attachment. Hackers have become almost omnipresent thieves with ciphers that have been coded onto the fabric of the world wide web. Every time you use the internet, you zoom past these deadly codes. You could end up having one attached to your internet connection in which case you will get hacked in subsequent hours or even days.
There are several ways with which hackers get access to your email account and can consequently track whatever you send out. The most common of these ways is phishing. This is a sort of elaborate scam whereby hackers ensure that you click on an advert, for example, and you end up using your email to sign up for one offer or another.
Once they know your email details, all they have to do is send you mail upon mail promising this or that. Once you click on any of their links, they use other tactics to get you to enter your email password, for example, into their websites. Then they use that password for whatever they want, including checking the sensitive data you send as an email attachment.
Secure File Transfer with Password
So, if you want to protect the information you send in an email from prying eyes, you could simply use secure file transfer with passwords. This simply means that you archive your files within a file format with extensions such as .ZIP or .RAR, then use a password to lock up the file. This way, even if hackers get a hold of your email with the file, they will find it difficult to get access to it.
Secure File Transfer with File Transfer Encryption Apps and Services
Many dedicated apps and services are designed to help you lock up your files and even send them. Some of these services ensure that you conduct the file transfer process on their platforms.
This is a safer method. This way, you would be depending on the service’s security walls that were likely devised by professionals instead of the ones you hastily put together.
In a later section of this article, we will suggest one such service which is recognized as having unmatched security.
Using Passwords to Secure Your Digital Space
In the last section, we touched on the subject of passwords. Indeed, the value of passwords is often overlooked because they are usually self-designed. In other words, you might assume that because you created them, they are only temporary gatekeepers to your digital space.
In truth, you can make your passwords as tough as anything in existence. However, you have to apply certain principles that fortify this toughness and can save you from an embarrassing tangle with a mischievous hacker or scammer.
But first, how does a password get hacked?
How Does a Password Get Hacked?
Passwords are not sentient things. This means that they cannot send you an SOS whenever a hacker is in the vicinity of your digital space. They also cannot be seduced by the hacker. They are just like gates that help to wall off your digital domain from the rest of the digital universe.
When somebody with malicious intent somehow gets past this gate, you have been hacked. When somebody uses a program to break down this gate and gets access to your digital space, you have been hacked. In other words, as long as somebody somehow slips past your walls without your authorization, you have been hacked.
Hackers generally use two primary methods to hack your passwords: the way of guessing and the way of scamming.
1. The Way of Guessing
This method essentially covers everything a hacker does by guessing your password. In other words, if the number of characters in your password is 6, the hacker keeps using permutations and combinations until they get the right arrangement of letters and symbols.
Of course, no serious hacker uses their brains. There are software applications that can do as high as 100 billion character combinations in a second. So that password that you think is witty—for example, ASTRONGPASSWORD—will be hacked in seconds at best.
2. The Way of Scamming
The way of scamming, on the other hand, requires the hackers to contact you and get you into their own space.
Imagine seeing an ad about a mouth-watering offer or even a clip that you just really want to watch. However, before seeing this ad or clip, you have to log in to your Facebook account on that site. Of course, the site is designed to look exactly like Facebook, so you will not be able to tell the difference unless you look at the web address.
Once you enter your Facebook password, consider your Facebook account hacked. The same principle applies to other social media platforms and even some banking service providers. This means that you inadvertently provide the hackers with everything they need to get past your gatekeeper.
How To Create Invincible Passwords
The only protection against that type of scamming is to be cautious when clicking links. Once you realize that something is strange, get out immediately. And don’t go using your passwords willy-nilly. After all, no matter how invincible a password you have created, once you give it away, that’s the end.
For the way of guessing, however, you can stump even the most futuristic password-guessing software with a powerful password.
Here are some suggestions for creating a strong password:
- Use a combination of alphabetic and non-alphabetic characters. Make sure that your password contains alphabets in UPPER and lower cases. But also include non-alphabetic characters like %, &, _, #, @, and many others.
- Use passwords that are at least 15 characters long. Short passwords, regardless of how mystifying their composition, can be hacked quickly. However, it takes longer to hack long passwords. So, the principle is simple: the longer your password, the better the security it offers. Also, 15 characters is a threshold: more is better, but we strongly advise against using fewer characters.
- Stay away from straight keyboard passwords like QWERTY or ASDFGH. Straight keyboard path passwords are easy to guess and are often the first guesses of hackers. So, stay far away from them.
- Use dedicated password generators and authenticators. There are several password generators that you can use. These apps can generate passwords based on character length and such. Also, authenticators are now a thing. These authenticators provide temporary passwords that nobody but you can know or use.
If you follow these suggestions, you would be able to create a very strong password the likes of which hackers dread and can do nothing about.
Is It Safe to Pay with a Credit Card Online?
It is generally safe to pay with a credit card online. As a rule, credit cards are designed with security features that block off hackers and nullify whatever methods they want to use. These encryptions are often multi-layered, which means that stealing your credit card details is not enough to get access to your money.
Also, due to the prevalence of credit card fraud, many credit card providers calibrate their cards in such a way that they can detect strange transactions. Thus, anytime such transactions take effect, for example, a request to purchase a sports car when all you have been buying since you got the card are groceries, the credit card company takes note of this and contacts you.
So, yes, it is quite safe to use credit cards for online transactions. Just make sure to check out all that the credit card company has to offer in terms of security before subscribing to their services.
FileWhopper: An All-Rounder for Encryption, Password, and Payment Safety
FileWhopper is a solid file transfer service with options for safe encryption, passwords, and payments. At its most basic, the service allows you to transfer small files or large chunks of data without having to worry about hacking or delay.
Encryption and Password Security
FileWhopper uses a particular file transfer encryption method known as zero-knowledge encryption to protect every file you send on the platform. This means the only individual who knows what your password is you. Therefore, once you have generated the password, the FileWhopper framework locks the file(s) and generates a link for you to send to the receiver.
This is where the zero-knowledge encryption shines: you have to tell the receiver what the password is. It is like locking up the doors to your house, getting FileWhopper to stand guard around the premises, and directly handing over a copy of the key to the receiver.
FileWhopper does not get to see or keep this key and neither does anyone else. As such, you get to have that extra peace of mind knowing that you can share files securely. So, choosing a secure password would not be too much of an inconvenience for you.
Payment
Another solid feature of FileWhopper is the secure payment option. You don’t have to subscribe daily, weekly, monthly, or annually. Instead, you only pay for FileWhopper services when you use them.
Immediately FileWhopper decides on the size of your file and sends you the quote. And that is when you pay for the file transfer service.
Mind you, file transfers on FileWhopper cost as low as $0.99. In other words, you can send as high as 5 GB of data for a little less than $1. Moreover, this payment is secure, so you are not at any risk of hacking.
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