The internet is a world of its own. It's got the good guys and the bad guys. How do you know if you are safe online?
Take this scenario. A hacker can go through your Facebook account, see where you work, go onto Linked In or your organization's website, check to see who your boss or your CEO is, uses your bosses identity to create a fake Gmail account and send to you with your company logo (because its available online on your organization's website) to request you to release funds immediately into their bank account, or asks you to click on a link that has malware/ransomware on it.
Viruses may be history as todays online criminals tend to go after people rather than computer to break into systems. What should we - as internet users - be weary of when providing information on public platforms online. Social media is becoming more popular in PNG with increasing users -most who do not understand how it works so we need to be careful and educate ourselves and others on what to post or disclose online.
From a recent workshop on cyber security, I've learnt a few things that I'd like to share in this article.
1. Post or send pictures of events AFTER the event has taken place. Especially official events at work, mainly because, you may unintentionally expose interests, people or agendas that should not be made public. (Exception is when Press/News is present, because we know they will post/share live feeds sometimes). Post about your travel AFTER you have travelled to a location, this will prevent criminals to know where you are.
2. From time to time, go back and look at your uploads, find anything sensitive like phone numbers, email address, residential addresses, vehicle number plates, workplace (pictures in your work uniform) - anything that can let someone know your routine or exact locations.
3. Mobile phone security. Lock your phone - put a password, PIN - secure your phone so that you don't lose all your information if your phone is stolen. Most of us save passwords in our phone browsers/applications so that we do not need to enter them again. This is why when you lose your phone, you lose your Facebook, your Gmail or other accounts and you have to create new ones - not very safe!
4. Update your smart phone - if you have a smartphone, when was the last time you've updated your phone. Updates are very important because there are security vulnerabilities on your phone that needs to be updated and protected. Many will say its eats up data when updating but is it worth losing a K10.00 credit or an entire fortnight when your internet banking data is stolen?
5. Two Factor Authentication - use two factor authentication on your Bank Accounts, Email/Apple. This security measure ensures you confirm your identity twice on different platforms (Phone/SMS) before making a transaction or logging into a new device. For example: BSP Online banking has this feature - if someone steals your online banking credentials, they cannot send money to their account unless they get an SMS from your phone with a One-Time-Password (OTP) to add a new 'Payee' to your online banking list.
6. Do not use public Wi-Fi - you do not know who is monitoring the sites you are visiting, the passwords you are entering into your online accounts. It is very easy to get this information over Wi-Fi (I tried it before, don't ask me how, google it).
7. Use passphrases instead of passwords. Use a sentence with numbers and special characters instead of a work. The most used combination is to start with a Capital letter, small letters, a symbol and a number at the end - try to avoid this combination and use a passphrase instead. It is harder to crack a passphrase than a passcode/PIN.
More topics on Technolgies that are a risk to Cyber Security.
Metaverse - a single, shared, immersive, persisted, 3D virtual space where humans experience life in ways they could not in physical world. Combination of virtual reality and internet.
AI - Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, whilst very good in research, it can be exploited by hackers to attack. "Deep fakes are already deployed and bots are continuing to run rampant" -
Deep Fake - is ability for AI to use a person's face on someone else digitally on videos or video conferences.
Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning - ability of machines to 'think' and 'respond'.
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