West Newsmagazine 5-20-20

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May 20, 2020
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
I 37
ONLINE SAFETY, from page 12
they’ve met online before.”
Due to the fact that many of these
cases are the result of heated online
discourse, according to Stephens,
one of the best ways for individuals
to stay safe online is to avoid negative
confrontations and remain as
anonymous as possible. Sometimes,
this includes extra security steps to
secure your information from various
websites and even from internet
providers.
“Always be cautious of what
information you are giving to your
providers and that, if you want to
remain anonymous, you can do it
as best as possible,” Stephens said. “The
other potential solution to this is just not
to start fights online or engage in any situations
that could potentially escalate from
there.”
Discussions about cybersecurity and
data protection have been at the forefront
for many individuals, businesses and organizations
as employees have been tasked
with working and potentially handling
confidential information from their homes
during the quarantine.
Cybersecurity while working, learning
from home
According to the Federal Bureau
of Investigation [FBI], an anticipated
increase in fraud schemes related to
COVID-19 was anticipated back in mid-
April. These types of schemes run the
gamut from blackmail attempts to workat-home
schemes that target unsuspecting
individuals through fictitious phone
calls or emails that solicit information or
spread malware through suspicious links
or infected downloadable files.
According to Jeff Minnis,
owner of Jeff Computers in Manchester,
more individuals have
reported cybersecurity breaches
and scams related to COVID-19
during the quarantine.
“Right now, there’s a lot more
usage and there are also a lot of
people working from home, and
so they’re a little more vulnerable
to social engineering and
those types of things,” Minnis
said.
While some scams target individuals,
others have attacked
larger companies. This is due to
the fact that more corporations’
networks have become vulnerable due to
increased out-of-office communications.
According to Minnis, VPNs [virtual private
networks] are being implemented by
individuals looking to keep their data private
while working in public settings. Twofactor
authentication can also help prevent
hackers from breaking into accounts.
Whether it’s through online gaming or
working from home, online vulnerabilities
could potentially lead to issues like the previously
mentioned backtracing, hacking or
[Source: Adobe Stock]
the infection of a personal computer with
malware. The latter group includes debilitating
programs like ransomware, a type of
malicious virus that encrypts all the information
on a personal computer and locks
the encryption key behind a paywall that’s
only lifted if a victim sends money, usually
bitcoin or another form of cryptocurrency,
to the attacker.
According to the FBI, many traditional
money laundering schemes have now been
optimized due to the growing popularity of
cryptocurrency kiosks across the internet.
It should be known that legitimate charities,
investment platforms and e-commerce
sites do not typically accept or pressure
individuals to submit payments or donations
in the form of cryptocurrency.
When it comes to combating scammers
or fraudsters, Minnis said the biggest safeguard
is verifying the legitimacy of any
phone calls or emails upfront.
“The best way to do that is to just
research the proper phone numbers, email
addresses or contacts, and not trust the
information you receive from a phone call,
an email or something that just pops up on
your screen,” Minnis said. “A lot of times
people end up calling that number on the
screen, and that’s not a good idea.”
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