Digital Security

When using the internet you are leaving yourself vulnerable to different security issues such as; malware, cyber-criminal lurks, cyber bullying and credit card thefts to name a few. The increased security risk has become a major concern to all globally. Most of the digital users forget to keep themselves safe on the net by forgetting not to always share all their personal details such as their address and phone numbers. Teenagers are especially more vulnerable due to bullying from their peers and them seeing the net as a safe place to just chill and forget about their life troubles; this leads them to trusting the wrong people and anyone looking to listen to them.

We never stop to think of the risks of T&C’s, we usually simply just press the agree button without even reading what we are agreeing to. Unknowingly we are giving companies the right to use our information for other purposes. We are so ignorant to the point that we don’t even realize that our data is being recorded and kept sometimes eve sold. The only way to possibly combat this issue is to set your private setting to the highest possible level and giving minimal personal information.

Types of cyber-crimes:

Phishing/Spoofing

                                                                                         

“The fraudulent practice of sending emails pretending to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information”.

Protect your computer with a firewall, spam filters, anti-virus and anti-spyware software

Be cautious of emails from unrecognized senders.

Do not click on links, download files or open attachments in emails from unknown senders

Beware of links in emails that ask for personal information.

Never email personal or financial information, even if you are close with the recipient

Copyright Infringement

The use of works protected by copyright law without permission Avoid taking anything from the internet because it almost always is copyrighted by default.

Rather always try to be creative than copying.

In case of movies or music rather always buy from trustworthy websites to be on the safe side.

Child Pornography

Any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor (someone under 18 years of age).

Sites and search results should be blocked permanently to prevent pedophiles from sharing or accessing those videos.

Cyber-bullying

                                                          

“Cyber-bullying is the harmful use of the Internet and related technologies to harm other people, in a deliberate, repeated, and hostile manner”.

Cyber bullying can be stopped by: not responding to the bully, not retaliating, keeping the evidence of the whole bullying, reporting the bully and lastly by simply blocking the bully.

Hacking

                                

When someone’s computer is broken into so that his personal or sensitive information can be accessed. The criminal uses a variety of software to enter the person’s computer and the person may not be aware that his computer is being accessed from a remote location.

Always check permissions on the apps before installing and make sure they aren’t accessing unnecessary information. Use a VPN.

Use secure website; it displays the green lock sign by it. This is otherwise known as HTTPS, and it encrypts the data that passes from your device to the internet server, meaning any hackers can’t decipher your private information.

Change all passwords regularly and not use the same passwords across many different services

                                                                  References

Telegraph (2014) cyber crime. [online]. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/yourbusiness/11393773/Seven-ways-to-avoid-being-hacked.html. [Accessed on 24 July 2015]