Top 10 methods used by hackers to steal your data

When confidential data (such as credit card numbers, customer information and such) are stolen, not only is it a disgrace for the company that manages those data, but it can also be a very expensive incident.

That is what the American retail chain TJX Companies experienced. In 2007, hackers stole 45 million credit card and debit card numbers to the company. All these cards had to be replaced, which forced TJX to pay 24 million dollars to MasterCard and 41 million dollars to Visa. In addition, the company will have to undergo an expensive yearly audit conducted by FTC for the next 20 years.

Unfortunately, there is no method that allows you to be a 100% safe against such theft, but you can do all you can to make access to cybercriminals less easy. Hackers indeed often use several popular methods to access your data. If you browse this short list and protect yourself against the techniques below, you will already save yourself a lot of trouble.
1. Flaws in the operating system
2. SQL injections
3. Drive-by downloads
4. Cracked passwords
5. Social engineering
6. E-mail with harmful code
7. Physical access
8. A compromised network
9. Wireless network hacking
10. Weak protection of the access points.