Strategies To Tackle Threats From The Internet

As technology is raising in this age and time with its advances, it have gradually became part of our daily lives. People rely on the advantages that technology had provided to ease their convenience. These opens up opportunity for threats that most users are unaware of, therefore we must learn to prevent such threats from happening. In the following essay I will be covering the possible threats and strategies that users might face surfing the internet, email, mobile devices and cloud technology.

In the rising usage of internet, social media platform is not an exceptional as it is the most popular tool. Popular platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram play the roles of building online profiles with users providing information about themselves. It is also use to connect with friends, family and even sharing of interest. As social networking sites have improved our lives, it also opens up avenues for hackers and criminals. According to a survey by Symantec’s Enterprise (2010), “Leading information security threat forecast for 2011 indicates raise in social media threats and attacks.” There are seven threats of social networking, phishing, identity theft, malware, site flaws, URL spoof, click-jacking and social engineering. Here are some popular threats examples. First threat is phishing it is one of the most prevalent social media threats. As social media platform benefits users to easily find personal information, attackers can use it to create attractive emails to trick them to providing sensitive information through sites that looks authentic. Attackers then steal information and spread phishing links to all other user’s contact. Second threat is identity theft, hackers misused stolen personal information with the intention to commit illegal activities. Such information can be used to illegally take loans, purchase items on credit. Stolen important documents such as passport and driver licenses can be used as fake identities to travel and commit other illegal activities. This will cause financial loss and putting the person’s reputation at risk, worst situation would be being charged for crimes that the person did not commit. Third threat is URL spoofing it is a fake link that is disguised as legitimate and secure website and actually redirects to malicious websites. Hackers creates website that is same as the original to lure users to key in sensitive information such as credit card information, name and passwords.

As threats are created, people are also coming out with solutions to tackle it and to prevent more cases from happening. For phishing, keep yourself updated on the new phishing techniques as new scams are being developed all the time. Beware of clicking on links in emails if you are unsure of it. Updating of browser security patches regularly, they response to security loopholes that hackers have inevitably discovered and exploit. Be conscious about providing your personal information online. When in doubt, check out the main website of the company, contact them for more enquiries before proceeding. For identity theft, review credit or debit cards statements and report if there is any inappropriate transactions. Updating of sharing and firewall settings when connected to public Wi-Fi network also consider using private Wi-Fi other than public as it is more secure and has privacy. For URL spoofing, check email links before clicking even if the sender is from someone you trust. Do not anyhow click on any pop up links and keep browsers up to date.

Email is also a popular tool among users as it is convenient whether for businesses, school, personal usage because allows people to share files and documents easily. Some emails may contain sensitive information for businesses purpose. Therefore, due to its pervasive use, hackers used it as a platform to launch data attacks. These are the top 3 threats of emails that I will be explaining. First threat is hoax emails, it is an email used to trick users to believe that it is sent by a legitimate user. The email contains of attractive contents to bait users into providing their information. Example the popular Nigerian scam, it is originated from Nigeria but it has now been used all over the world. Scammers would elaborate story that seems real and pitiful to bait users. They would then ask for help to transfer large sums they claimed to have difficulty in access to and would offer you a sum of money as rewards. They might even ask for your account number to help them with the transactions and would use your information to steal funds. They would claim that bank or other organizations requires advanced payment before the transaction can be made. The scammer may come up with new fees and scam you as long as you are willing to be a part of it. Second is spam email, hackers often includes malicious attachment to emails that would install Ransomware and malware when open by the victim. According to a research by Verizon (2017), in 2016 hackers had successfully delivered two-thirds of malware via malicious email attachments. Email is one of the most common ways of sending spams. Thirdly Spoofing, as the email protocol is lacking of mechanism to check on authentic email addresses it advantages hackers to use emails that are similar to legitimate ones. Victims will then be deceived to believe that the email is from a trusted source. Similarly, email is also a platform attractive to many threats. Thus, we have to be more alert to prevent ourselves from falling into traps like these. Here are 5 tips on email strategy. Firstly, be more logical, if the email is too good to be true and is from an unknown sender delete the email. Secondly, beware of spam emails as they often comes with attachment files for you to download, which are most likely malicious softwares. If the attachment or email looks suspicious, double check the sender and content before downloading or clicking. Thirdly, using different passwords for your accounts so that if the hacker get holds of your password, other accounts will still be save from attacks. Also, learn to change passwords once in a while to prevent hackers from attacking. Fourthly, learn to educate yourself and people of your organization on potential email threat so that possible threats can be avoided as much as possible. Fifthly, it is to use quality email filter, this can prevent victim from encountering with a cyber-threat. It will filter out emails that does not seems legit or important, this will also organize your inbox.

Mobile devices and smartphones has impacted the world as it is the most convenient tool that you can find. People use it to communicate, watch shows, play games, settle bank transactions, emails and many more. It feels like technology is just in the pump of your hands. According to research done by Kaspersky Lab (2014), “It has detected that almost 3.5 million pieces of malware on more than 1 million user devices.” As the population of smartphone users are increasing, it is also a part for hackers to play. These are the top 3 threats that affects victims exposed to smartphones. Firstly, unmanaged mobile application. It is an application that is available on iOS stores or Google Play Store. Applications usually comes with update to fix bugs and malware. Users who do not update their applications regularly are more likely to be exposed to threats. Secondly, unsecured Wi-Fi connections. Wi-Fi is a popular network to replace burning of data usage and it is easily available almost everywhere. Free Wi-Fi connections are usually not secured. Hackers set up network connections to lure victims and then they hack through your device to steal information. Therefore when connected to free Wi-Fi use it sparingly and do not use it to access confidential services like credit card or banking services. Thirdly, network spoofing. It is the same concept as Wi-Fi connections, hackers set them up at popular spots like cafe, airports and shopping centers. They create common names like ‘free Wi-Fi’ or ‘cafehouse’ to encourage users to connect to it. Some cases, hackers require users to create an account. Victims tend to employ the same email address and passwords allowing hackers to compromised their emails and other secured information.

With the increasing rate of mobile device usage, there is also an increase in mobile devices threats. Many users are unaware of the risks associated with the usage of mobile devices hence the increase of victims falling into threats. These are the possible solution that can be put to practice. Firstly, avoid connecting to unsecured Wi-Fi networks as they often expose devices to many risk. Secondly, refrain downloading applications from third-party sources as they are often unreliable. Users should only consider downloading applications through trustable sources like App Stores and Google Play Store. Thirdly, beware of unknown callers and messages. As there is a rise in cases of scammer targeting victims using fake numbers that seems to be legitimate to trick them into making payment for some non-existing parcels and fake crime charges. Check the caller id, refrain from providing any sensitive information, call the company to check if there is any call made by them. Cloud technology has made life easier for users as they can just upload and access them with just an internet connection. According to a study by International Data Group (n.d.), “69% of businesses are already using cloud technology in one capacity or another, and 18% say they plan to implement cloud-computing solutions at some point.” Cloud technology has benefit organizations to rely on the flexibility and services they have provided instead of expanding resources on computer infrastructure and maintenance. Therefore, most companies choose to save cost on upgrading their IT sources as cloud storage is cost-effective. However, cloud technology is exposed to the same threats that affect any regular computers. According to a report by the Cloud Security Alliance (n.d.), “Cloud providers are highly accessible, and the vest amount of data they host makes them an attractive target.” It is attractive because it allows hackers from stealing multiple sets of sensitive data. These are the threats that cloud technology is exposed to. Firstly, data breach. It does far more damage than a computer data breach as it puts data of multiple users in the hands of attackers in a single instance. A data breach can expose sensitive information from clients and trade secrets which may lead to serious consequences. Companies could face lawsuits and fines up to a few years that would ruin their reputations and would damage the brand name. Secondly compromised credentials, just by choosing a secure password can prevent countless of security threats. Companies who lack of secure credentials are more exposed to being compromised. Thirdly, permanent data loss. Backing up your data is important even though the chances of losing them is extremely small. There have been reports of hackers gaining access to cloud data center and wiping all data clean. Therefore having a backup is much encouraged.

Users are highly responsible for the protection of their data stored in clouds, they should be more caution and prevent such acts from happening. Actions that can be done are firstly to backup data so when being attacked, there is a physical backup. Secondly, updating of backup data regularly so that damage can be minimized in case of incidents. Thirdly, creating strong passwords makes it difficult for hackers to break into your account. Fourthly, the practice of security discipline when using public computer is also important, always remember to log out of your account after accessing it. Remove your account from the application if possible, do not save passwords when logging in. Simple procedures like this will be an advantage to hackers when not careful. Fifthly, avoid uploading sensitive information onto cloud services. Personal information such as NRIC, passport numbers, credit card information and more should be kept away from cloud.

In conclusion, this essay shows that there are a lot of strategies to tackle threats from the internet. However, one must learn to put it to use wisely and always take extra precaution. If unsure of such threats, users are able to search for articles or even solutions online as sources are readily available online. Users should also take serious considerations about the simple procedures that people tend to miss out in their daily lives as they think it’s not necessary. It will shock them to know how much cases can be prevented just by securing their passwords. As much as the internet can provide to make our daily lives easier, we should also learn to protect ourselves from being a victim of threats that can be prevented in the first place.