How to Protect Yourself From Cyber Attackst

When business giants Target, Home Depot and Sony got hacked, and personal information was compromised, data security, once again, became a hot topic and household word.Sure, you know you need to do more to shield your identity, but let's face it, you can only do so much to protect yourself, and even that is reliant on other people or companies. Unfortunately, these same entities can clearly be careless.

When people aren't careful, the Internet can become a playground for criminal activity. Whether you're checking your email, banking information or doing some online shopping, you have already put yourself at risk of having your identity stolen.Criminals have developed several ways to obtain personal data from innocent Internet users. According to the United States Department of Justice, cyber criminals can take over an individual's identity to conduct a wide range of crimes. Criminals like to make fraudulent withdrawals from bank accounts because victims usually don't become aware of the criminal activity until substantial and irreversible damage has already been done.

Enter Gabriel, a set of secure communication apps derived from a U.S. Department of Defense project and created by VirnetX, an Internet security software and technology company.Gabriel transmits information using automatic virtual private networks with military-grade encryption. Think Cryptograms."Gabriel has been designed and built with personal privacy and security as a foundational principle," says Dr. Robert Short, VirnetX Chief Technical Officer and Chief Scientist. "As a result, Gabriel provides uncompromising data security? users do not have to transmit data to, or store data with, any third party, including VirnetX. Users can therefore rest easy that their data is stored only on their devices."