Former hacker reveals the five main security mistakes everyone makes with their devices
Hacking horror stories are everywhere - from people who have had their identities stolen to their bank accounts drained.
Terrifying, yes - but most of us think it'll never actually happen to us.
But it's never going to hurt to be as prepared as possible, knowing the common security mistakes that might make us vulnerable to criminals.
And who better to reveal all than an actual professional hacker?
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Kieran Burge is a security consultant at Prism Infosec, where he essentially tests companies' cybersecurity setups - looking for any weaknesses that bad actors might exploit.
He told the MailOnline there are five common mistakes a lot of us are making which could leave us vulnerable to attack.
1. Using out-of-date software
It's easy to ignore those annoying pop-ups telling you to update your phone or laptop, but this could be a huge mistake.
"Out-of-date software is a really big issue because, if the software has been updated, it's probably because there is a security issue," Burge told MailOnline.
And hackers often share these security issues on online forums when they've been identified - meaning more people might try and exploit it and gain access to your information.
2. Reusing passwords
Having a different password for every single account is a total pain - but using the same one over and over is a massive mistake, according to Burge.
“No matter what site you're giving information to you, you don't know what they're going to do with that information or how they're going to protect it," he said.
So if your password is compromised on one site, criminals will then have access to every other account you use it on.
3. Oversharing online
Burge also warned against oversharing online - something that's become a common feature of modern life.
He said that hackers can scour social media sites, searching for information that might reveal things like usernames and passwords - giving an opening into your personal information.
It can also lead to something called 'sim swapping' or 'sim-jacking'. Burge told the MailOnline this is when hackers find info online like your date of birth and address: "Once you have all that information you can use social engineering techniques to ring up their mobile provider and convince them to transfer the mobile number to a new sim."
This means any texts or calls go straight to the hacker instead of you, giving them access to all the multi-factor authentication sites you're signed up to, which could be everything from your online banking to email accounts.
4. Using public WiFi
If you immediately hook up to the public WiFi every time you're in a cafe or airport, you might want to think again.
These public networks are unprotected - meaning you don't have to verify your identity to access them, so the data you send across isn't encrypted and can be nabbed by anyone else.
"Someone could be sat outside a public WiFi network and just listening in on what's being sent," Burge told the MailOnline.
"They could be in the cafe or they could be using specialist hardware to increase the range at which they can listen in on the network."
His solution is simple - always use a VPN when using a public WiFi network.
5. Clicking on dodgy links
It might seem obvious, but this one really is worth repeating - Burge urges us against clicking on links we don't know are legit.
Especially nowadays, when scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated - make sure you triple check something before you tap on it, because you don't know who might be lurking behind it.