Russia and Ukraine are at war. Some countries support, stay neutral, or oppose a given side. Some groups support, stay neutral, or oppose a given side . You are likely in at least one group or country, that is in-the-fray. One side or the other. It could be your ethnic group, it could be you are an EU, US or Nato member-country. It could be your economic group or your belief-system. It could be lots of things. Whether or not you have a personal interest in the outcome, you probably are in a group that supports one side or the other.
Here are some actions that are already underway:
- Both sides have used, is/are using, cyber attacks (computer and communication hacks) to disable the computers and technology of the other, and of other global actors. Guess what. You are an opponent. Guilty-by-association with one group or another.
- Other major powers and countries are using cyber tech in response and as an offensive weapon, just like the combatant countries.
- "Anonymous" is a semi-secret group of people, who are technical geniuses (smart people), who use their knowledge to impact the world in ways that benefit them. For fun, for financial gain, for political change, for hurt and for good. They are a force to be reckoned-with. They are largely de-centralized with no fixed leadership. They, collectively, have declared war on Russia.
The Internet is a battlefield. Shots are being fired. Be careful crossing the battlefield while shells are dropping.
Even ignoring the war, there is an ever increasing sophistication of hackers to take your identity, or your data. Regardless of the war, you should become familiar with "cyber hygiene", with safe practices.
You can do a search on, "cyber hygiene" and find plenty to read, on how to minimize your risk. Here are some examples:
1. Make sure you are using a current, supported antivirus software.
2. Use a malware detector software.
3. Keep a current backup of your drive/data. Ransomware is one of the most significant threats in-use.
4. Use a VPN. They help protect your privacy and reduce the threat of some attacks.
6. Make sure your operating system is current; that you have taken any available security patches.
7. Make sure that you remove any software that you no longer use.
8. Make sure that ALL your other software is up-to-date.
9. Delete Internet accounts that you no longer use.
10. Consider updating passwords for accounts that you keep. Use strong-passwords. (look this up for an explanation)
11. Make sure your modem, your network equipment has all the latest patches, that software drivers are up-to-date.
12. Because many companies and services do not keep their software current, their websites can be used to attack you while you browse. Reduce your random surfing.
13. Be careful about unsolicited email. It may be used to phish for your personal information.