{POE} Question 7

Question 7: Digital Security

Warning to the fellow students about the hazards of online activity and provide guidelines on online safety.

Ransomware

Ransomware is a type of malware which does not allow access to the computer system that it affects. Ransomware can manage to avoid security software installed on a system. Once infected, the ransomware will attempt to exploit the logged-in user’s stored identifications to also contaminate backed-up cloud storage data. Ransomware encrypts data, this would increase attacks on mobile devices and cloud-based data.

Insecure Passwords

Passwords that are too short and does not contain a mix of numbers and letters are classified as easy-to-crack passwords, will continue to be a big risk. This mainly due the fact that the mechanisms are flawed. The traditional method of password recovery is asking questions that only you know. Unfortunately, answers to these questions often can be deduced based on information that can easily be found online. This is caused by people over-sharing their private and valuable information to social media sites.

Cyber-espionage

Cyber espionage is becoming the weapon of choice for many national governments; it is a weapon that is used to undermine their enemies. It has been predicted that cyber espionage attacks are likely to increase in frequency as times goes by. Making use of the computer to access internet network connection and illegally access confidential information held by government or organisation.

The Internet of Things

The connection of physical devices such as home appliances and cars to the internet will still remain the Internet of Weaknesses. Internet of Things is said to be the main cybersecurity risk and will be integrated into markets such as healthcare, energy industry and transport network but it fails to keep up with the security attacks that still hasn't been designed yet.

Cyber theft increases

The stealing of financial information is nothing new, with stolen credit or debit card data on the black market a well-established and profitable business for cyber criminals. However as new ways of paying for goods, such as contactless and mobile payments, become the norm for International consumers “European consumers”, it will also create new opportunity for hackers – particularly if retailers don't store payment data firmly.

In addition; the guidelines on online safety:

They can avoid these risks first by installing anti-virus software's and update them weekly or even monthly, they could also avoid these risks by securing their network connection, personal information and making use of strong passwords.

ë  Ignore Pop-Ups which can allow contain soft wares that are harmful, to trick a user into verifying things they don't know.

ë  Never click on a link you did not expect to receive - The main way criminals infect computers with intrusive software is where by the persuade users to click on a link or open an attachment.

ë  Think on how you share your information; this involves identity fraud; people can use your identity elsewhere for their need.

ë  Block-Avoid social media invitations like Facebook request from people you have no knowledge about.

ë  Use different passwords on different sites; it is easy for hackers to crack your password especially when you used names from the dictionary.