Cyber Safety & Cyber Security Awareness for all people. Safe use of social media platforms

Cyber Safety & Cyber Security Awareness

Information Security:

• The nature of risks and vulnerabilities in modern societies is becoming more and more transformational today. An open and innovative approach to newer vulnerabilities at the physical, virtual and psychological levels is needed to create new knowledge and a better understanding of new risks and of their causes, interactions, probabilities and costs.
• Information security has therefore become assumed a greater importance in today's world. The primary aspects of information security are confidentiality, Integrity and Availability. These three factors are important not only to business sector but also to the operations of the government and critical infrastructures such as power, telecommunications, transportation, energy, banking and finance and defense etc. Information technology infrastructure has become essential part of the day-to-day functioning of these sectors.

 

Importance of Cyber Security:

Why is Cyber Security Awareness Important?  

1.  Advanced technologies have changed the modern way of life. The internet provides us with many
benefits. Be it communicating with friends, searching for information, doing banking transactions,
availing online services, finding job, finding life partner or even running entire businesses. The
internet touches almost all aspects of our lives. However, it also makes us vulnerable to a wide
range of threats. 

2.  New and powerful cyber-attacks are striking the internet regularly. A minor lapse in managing our
digital lives can open the door to cyber criminals. Cyber criminals can steal our money or damage
our reputation. According to a study by a leading industry research organization, 90% of all cyber attacks are caused by human negligence. Therefore, cyber security awareness is important for
everyone today.

Types of Cyber crime:

• A cyber crime is a crime involving computers and networks. This includes a wide range of activities, from illegally downloading music files to stealing money from online bank accounts. Cyber criminals are not always financially motivated.
• Cyber crimes include non-monetary offenses as well. It can
  include frauds such as job related frauds, matrimonial frauds; stealing and misusing sensitive
  personal information (Aadhaar details, credit/debit card details, bank account credentials, etc.);
  defamation of an individual on social media; distribution of computer viruses etc. Cyber crimes can also lead to physical or sexual abuse. 

Common types of cyber crimes prevalent today.  

1. Identity Theft 
2. Attacks through Mobile Applications
3. Psychological Tricks 
4. Virus Attacks on Personal Computer 
5. Social Media related Attacks
6. Digital Banking Frauds 

 

GENERAL TIPS TO KEEP YOU SAFE IN INTERNET.

1. Always keep your systems/devices (desktop, laptop, mobile) updated with latest patches. 
2. Protect systems/devices through security software such as anti-virus with the latest version.
3. Always download software or applications from known trusted sources only. Never use pirated
   software on your systems/devices. 
4. Ensure all devices/accounts are protected by a strong PIN or passcode. Never share your PIN
   or password with anyone. 
5. Do not share your net-banking password, One Time Password (OTP), ATM or phone
   banking PIN, CVV number etc. with any person even if he/she claims to be an employee or a
   representative of the bank and report such instances to your bank. 
6. Always change the default admin password on your Wi-Fi router to a strong password known
   only to you. In addition, always configure your wireless network to use the latest encryption
   (contact your network service provider, in case of any doubt) .
7. Be cautions while browsing through a public Wi-Fi and avoid logging in to personal &
   professional accounts such as e-mail or banking on these networks. 
8. Always use virtual keyboard to access net-banking facility from public computers; and logout
   from banking portal/website after completion of online transaction. Also ensure to delete
   browsing history from web browser (Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox etc.) after completion
   of online banking activity .
9. Be careful while sharing identity proof documents especially if you cannot verify the authenticity of the company/person with whom you are sharing information. 
10. Do scan all e-mail attachments for viruses before opening them. Avoid downloading e-mail
    attachments received in e-mails from unknown or un-trusted sources. 
11. Note the IMEI code of your cell phone and keep it in a safe place. The operator can blacklist/
    block/trace a phone using the IMEI code, in case the cell phone is stolen. 
12. Discuss safe internet practices and netiquettes with your friends and family regularly! Motivate
    them to learn more about cyber crimes and safe cyber practices. 
13. Do not save your card or bank account details in your e-wallet as it increases the risk of theft
    or fraudulent transactions in case of a security breach. 
14. Observe your surroundings for skimmers or people observing your PIN before using an ATM. 
15. If you think you are compromised, inform authorities immediately.

India Cyber Crime Portal & Indian computer emergency response team(CERT-In)

  

Cyber Bulling:

Cyber bullying is one of the common cyber threats being faced by children and young people. Though cyber bullying can impact anyone yet due to limited understanding about cyber threats, children become easy victims of cyber bullying.

Cyber bullying means using internet or mobile technology to internationally harass or bully someone by sending rude, mean or hurtful messages, comments and images/videos. A cyber bully can use text messages, emails, social media platforms, web pages, chat rooms, etc. to bully others. 

Let's discuss how you can protect yourself from becoming a victim of cyber bullying:

• Don't accept friend requests from unknown people on social media platforms. Cyber bully can even create a fake account to befriend victims. As a rule of the thumb, only add people online whom you know offline.
• Don't share your personal information like date of birth, address, and phone number on social media or other online platforms. You can go to privacy settings on social media platforms to select who can access your posts online. Try to restrict access of you profile to you friends only, Picture stories for example on a particular platform are public by default.
• Remember what you post online remains there so it is important to be careful and not to share you phone number and other personal details in comments or posts on social media platforms.
• Never install unwanted software and apps like dating app, online games, etc. from unknown source. You should be very careful while chatting in the chat rooms. Never share personal details in the chat room and limit your identity.
• Also, please remember that as a good netizen you should never share mean comments or hurtful messages or embarrassing pictures/videos online. Please be careful and check if your post/comment/videos can be embarrassing for your friend or anyone else. If so, please don't post. You should not become a cyber bully yourself as it is a punishable offence. It adversely impacts the victim.

Safe use of social media platforms.

The increased usage of internet services and smartphones has made social networking one of the most popular online activities. Social media enables users to connect, communicate and share information, photographs or videos with anyone across the globe. Some of the popular social media platforms are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn,WhatsApp, Snapchat, Tinder, Hike, WeChat, Tumblr etc.
The penetration of social media is continuously increasing worldwide. The tremendous growth in use of social media platforms/ social networking platforms has provided a fertile ground to cyber criminals to engage in illegal activities.

  

Here are some of important steps you should take to protect yourself and your information while using social media platforms:  

1. Do not trust online users unless you know and can trust them in real life.  
2. Do not accept friend requests from strangers on social networking sites. 
3. Do not share your personal information such as address, phone number, date of birth etc. on social media. Identity thieves can easily access and use this information .
4. Do not share your sensitive personal photographs and videos on social media. 
5. Always use a strong password by using alphabets in upper case and lower case, numbers and special characters for your social media accounts. 
6. Share your photos and videos only with your trusted friends by selecting right privacy settings on social media.
7. Immediately inform the social media service provider, if you notice that a fake account has been created by using your personal information. 
8. Do not allow social networking sites to scan your email account to look for your friends and send spam mails to them without your consent or knowledge.
9. Do not announce your vacations, travel plans etc. on social media. Criminals can use it as an opportunity for theft etc.  
10. Always keep location services turned off on your devices unless necessary. 
11. When chatting with someone online and you feel suspicious about your chat partner, try asking some unrelated scientific or mathematical questions. If it does not answer or acknowledge the question, it may mean that you are chatting with an automated computer bot. 
12. Do not use public computer/ cyber cafe to access social networking websites, it may be may be infected/ installed with a key logger application which will capture your keystrokes including the login credentials.

Note:- An initiative of Government of India to facilitate victims/complainants to report all types of  cyber crime complaints online. Complaints reported National cyber crime reporting portal are dealt by respective police authorities of states/ UTs based on the information provided by the complainants.

  National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal

https://www.cybercrime.gov.in/  

 

I Hope you find this article informative. If you have any queries than do let us know in the comments section below and we would love to get back to you at the earliest.

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