Cybersecurity principles and protection against online threats
In accordance with the tasks arising from the Act on the National Cybersecurity System, we provide you with information to help you understand the threats present in cyberspace, as well as advice on how to effectively protect yourself against these threats.
Cybersecurity is defined as “the resilience of information systems to actions compromising the confidentiality, integrity, availability, and authenticity of processed data or related services provided by these systems” (Article 2, point 4 of the Act of 5 July 2018 on the National Cybersecurity System, Journal of Laws of 2020, item 1369, as amended).
- The most common threats in cyberspace include:
- Attacks using malicious software (malware, viruses, worms, etc.)
- Identity theft
- Data theft (fraud), falsification, or destruction
- Blocking access to services
- Spam (unwanted or unnecessary electronic messages)
- Social engineering attacks (e.g. phishing — obtaining confidential information such as login credentials by impersonating a trusted institution or person, e.g. public offices, banks, social networks, friends)
Some ways to protect yourself from these threats:
- Use only strong, unique passwords for each system and never share them with anyone.
- Install and use antivirus software — preferably with real-time protection.
- Update your antivirus software and virus databases regularly (check whether your antivirus program has this feature and performs updates automatically).
- Update your operating system and applications without unnecessary delay.
- Do not open files from unknown sources.
- Do not use websites (especially online banking, email, or social media sites) that lack a valid security certificate unless you are completely certain from another reliable source that the site is safe.
- Do not use unverified security or file-sharing programs, as they may add unwanted code lines to your website’s source code.
- Regularly scan your computer and monitor network processes — if you are not familiar with this, ask someone who is. Sometimes, malicious software that establishes its own Internet connections and sends your passwords or private data online can install itself on your computer despite good protection — it must be detected and removed.
- Check all files downloaded from the Internet using antivirus software.
- Avoid visiting websites that offer “too good to be true” content (free videos, music, easy money, miracle diets) — such sites often contain hidden viruses, trojans, and other threats.
- Do not leave personal data on unverified websites unless you are absolutely certain they are not visible to third parties.
- Never send confidential information (e.g. personal data, login credentials, credit card details) in plain text via email — such information should be password-protected and encrypted. The password should be transmitted securely, i.e. via a different channel than the data itself.
- Always enable your firewall.
- Create regular backups of important data.
- Remember that no bank or public institution will ever send an email asking for your login or password for verification purposes.
- Pay attention to on-screen alerts and never ignore security warnings.
More tips on data protection can be found at:
https://www.nask.pl/pl/dzialalnosc/cyberbezpieczenstwo/3284,Cyberbezpieczenstwo.html
If you wish to anonymously and easily report illegal or harmful content you have encountered online, you can do so at: