Free demo · Information Security · Lesson 9 · Phase 3 · Your defence

How to protect yourself from hackers

Hackers rarely break strong defences; they walk through weak ones: reused passwords, missing updates, open Wi-Fi, oversharing. Six fixes close most doors.

  1. 1Passphrases, unique per site: “MangoTrain!Kolkata2026” beats “P@ss1”. Let a password manager remember them.
  2. 2Two-factor authentication on e-mail, bank, UPI and social accounts: an authenticator app or passkey, SMS only if nothing else is offered.
  3. 3Update everything promptly: phone, PC, browser, router. Turn on automatic updates.
  4. 4Safe networks: a strong password and WPA2/WPA3 on your home router, no banking on public Wi-Fi, HTTPS only.
  5. 5Share less: private profiles, no birthdays or travel plans in public, review which apps can access your accounts.
  6. ✓Watch for breaches: check your e-mail on haveibeenpwned.com, act on “new login” alerts, and change the password of any breached site.

Quick check: which habit protects you most if one website leaks its passwords?

Unique + 2FA: criminals try leaked passwords on every other site (credential stuffing). A unique passphrase stops that, and 2FA blocks them even if they guess right.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. Enrol

Tip: press → or Space to step through, ← to go back, R to replay.

About this lesson

Protecting yourself from hackers is mostly about removing the easy paths. Use long, unique passphrases for every account and store them in a password manager; turn on two-factor authentication with an authenticator app or passkeys so a leaked password alone is useless; install updates promptly on phones, computers, browsers and routers; secure your home Wi-Fi with WPA2 or WPA3 and avoid banking on public networks; share less personal information publicly, since birthdays and school names answer security questions; and monitor for breaches with services like haveibeenpwned.com, acting on login alerts you did not trigger. Credential stuffing, where criminals replay leaked passwords on other sites, is defeated by the first two habits alone. The full Phase 3 ends with a twelve-point personal security plan and a ten-question quiz.

Key points

  • Passphrases, password managers and 2FA
  • Updates, safe Wi-Fi and HTTPS
  • Privacy settings and breach monitoring