Category: Internet Security

Anyone who is connected to the internet will be a target of online scams. These scams are common and come in a variety of ways. Scams may be on your smart phone via text, in an email and even in the form of a phone call. The key to keeping yourself safe from getting scammed is to be aware of various methods scammers use to try and trick you.

Scammers want to get money out of you, often by stealing your personal information or tricking you into paying for something you don’t need. Using a scam checker can help you become more attentive to the methods online scammers use, making you better equipped to recognize and, even more importantly, ignore them.

Let’s review what these methods are and also give you some tips on how to confirm whether an email, text or phone call is legitimate or not. There are three main ways scam artists use to get your attention and fool you. Phishing, SMishing and Vishing. Here is what each of them mean and how you can protect yourself if presented by one of these methods.

Phishing

Phishing happens when a scam is sent to you via email. Most often, a scammer will invite you to click a link to gain access to your personal information. They will pose as a legitimate company, such as a bank, an online streaming service or social media platform. Basically, any online account you may or may not have is fair game.

You may not even use one of these services and wonder why they are targeting you. This is why it’s called Phishing. The term was created to sound like the word ‘fishing’. Someone fishing on a lake will cast their hook out into the water. They don’t know how many fish are in the lake. They don’t see the fish or know whether any of them are even interested in the bait on the hook. But the person fishing knows there may be at least one fish that will take a bite and be hooked. Another way to look at it is this. Imagine someone fishing from a boat with a large net. Not all the fish will be caught, but many will.

In the same way an online scammer will send the same email to millions of people. It may be for a company you don’t have an account to. But many other people getting the same email could be tricked into clicking the link. By doing so they will log in to a fake website and the scammer will capture their username and password. This will give the scammer access to the user’s real account in order to steal their identity.

How to Protect Yourself: Never click on a link you receive in an email, even if you think the email is legitimate from an account you have. Simply go to your web browser and visit your account’s website directly or by using a bookmark you’ve created. Log in from there and check to see if there are any issues with your account.

Phishing only works because people are not paying attention. For example, let’s say you just ordered a package from Amazon. Shortly afterward, an email arrives stating that there is something wrong with your shipment. This is probably a coincidence. You can see how easy it would be to click the link since you just sent a package.

SMishing

SMishing is when a scammer sends a message to you via text. It is called SMishing because texting is also known as SMS (short message services). Just like Phishing, criminals who want to steal your information or money cast a wide net via text to catch people off guard. SMishing is a more recent problem. There has been a lot of information about email scams over the past few years. Now, we need to be also be on the look out for SMishing scams on our phones. Most often these are security texts which appears to be from a bank stating that something is wrong with your account. The goal is the same. To trick you into giving over your personal information.

SMishing may also come in the form of a positive message. It may be a great deal on something but by clicking you may end up paying for something you won’t receive.

How to Protect Yourself: Be careful when clicking links in a text. Never click on a link associated with an account you may have, such as a bank account or any online account, including Spotify or Facebook. Of course, friends may send you links to websites or videos. In that case, just be extra careful and pay close attention to who is sending you the link.

Tips for Guarding Against New SMishing Schemes

Smishing scams are sent by cybercriminals who are typically pretending to be a company or a different person. Conducting a reverse image search of someone’s picture will reveal if they have other identities under other names or are using someone else’s picture to catfish users. There are many different methods scammers use in sMishing scams, and these include sending malicious links and links to fake websites.

These days, many random text messages have no link at all. Message likes “Hey, are you picking my up at the airport today?” or “Hi, I’m coming to town, do you want to do lunch?” are scammers testing numbers. If you reply they can continue the conversation to build trust and eventually scam you. Or they may sell you number to other scammers.

Avoid responding to unsolicited text messages. Even just replying yes or no confirms for the scammer that you are a real person with an active number.

Vishing

The “V” in Vishing stands for voice call scams. We’ve all received them. We’ve all been greatly annoyed by these scam phone calls that come from a foreign or strange looking phone number. Worse yet, many calls that are spoofed to look like a local number. The Spoofing of a phone number is when a caller makes it look like they are calling from a particular number, but the call is actually from different location altogether.

Just like other scams you need to be ready to think before you respond. The call may sound like it’s from a legitimate establishment. Adults are often tricked into thinking the call is from their government’s tax collection service. If the call is fact real, they won’t be threatening the receiver with arrest by the police if they don’t pay immediately, as scammers often do.

How to Protect Yourself: Never give any personal information over the phone, even if the person sounds like they are from a real company. If in doubt, hang up and call the company directly. If the caller is uttering threats or demanding information or money, hang up! You can also do your part to stop the scammer by reporting it. Google the contact information for your country’s anti-fraud center. You can call them or submit a report online from their website.

Beware of New Vishing Scams

Cybercriminals can gather audio samples of a person’s voice from their social media, their voicemail, or even from their replies to scam calls. This is part of what makes deepfake audio scams alarmingly convincing.  Cybercriminals typically ask the person they are calling for money to help get them out of a fake emergency situation.

If you receive an emergency phone call from an unknown number from what sounds like a loved one,  call their normal phone number directly.  The scammer might claim they don’t have access to their personal phone, but it is best to try anyway as the person “in peril” might answer and confirm they are perfectly fine.

Signs of artificially generated audio are unnatural pronunciations or pauses, irregular pitches, and lack of background noise are   Keep an ear out for these audio cues which could be signs of a scam.  If you want to know who’s calling you repeatedly from the same number, you can search the the deep web that checks public records.

Quishing

But wait, there’s more!  Here’s a new addition to the scam vocabulary. Quishing is when cybercriminals use QR codes to access your accounts or steal your data.  We wrote a new article about it here.   

Protecting Your Computer from Scams:

On a final note, it’s important for anyone with a computer or laptop to also protect themselves from malware and viruses. If you accidentally click on a bad email link, you have better protection with a secure computer.

1. Make sure your operating system’s security features are activated and up to date.
2. Then install a reputable anti-malware software program. This type of program will also offer protection when surfing the web, in the event you land on an infected website that is trying to access your personal information.

These types of malicious websites may also try to secretly install malware on your computer and direct you to fake websites. You could also be infecting other computers through email without your knowledge.

In today’s digital and always-online world, children are increasingly using the internet, and the trends predict that the numbers are only going to rise. The right time to talk to your kids and teens about cybersecurity is now. According to a 2015 study by Child Trends, 60% of children aged 3-17 used the internet at home, a steep climb from 11% in 1997.

Another study by The Center for Parenting Education found that kids and teens aged 8-28 spend about 44.5 hours in front of digital screens each week. Children are starting with the internet early, and it’s a parent’s job to add safeguards and filters to ensure a safe online environment.

Ways to Achieve Cybersecurity

However, parents can’t do it alone. The children need to be included in the discussion about cybersecurity and how to stay safe online.  Like it or not, the internet can be a dangerous place, and they can get caught in it. The web can help kids with their homework or research, and there’s no denying that it’s a game-changer for education. But there are bad actors and predators out there, lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce at the most vulnerable members of society – children.

Here are the most critical topics you need to discuss with your children.

Passwords

If your kids are old enough to create and manage their accounts, talk to them about the importance of using strong passwords. The general rule is to use a combination of 8-12 upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols. Never use the same password for everything, because if one account gets compromised, all accounts will follow suit. Also, refrain from using personal information like names, pet names, street names, and birthdays.

Using a password manager can help store and encrypt all passwords, so you don’t have to memorize them. Make sure that you write down the master password and keep it in a secure location. Please don’t take a picture of it or save it on your phone.

Sharing Personal Information

Talk to your children about sharing too much personal information online, such as photos, videos, names, birthdays, and other sensitive data. Educate them about the fact that anything that they share or post online will be on the internet forever, so private social media posts must remain closed. Talk to them about the criminals looking to steal their information for identity theft, and the predators who will try to manipulate and exploit them.

Sex offenders like to collect photos and videos of kids, while some are known to trick children into believing they’re the same age as them. Most are violent and will spew obscenities regardless, so let your child know that anytime he or she feels threatened or uncomfortable while online, to tell you immediately. Getting an identity theft monitoring service for you and your children can help mitigate the risks of identity theft.

Viruses and Malware

Threat actors embed malware everywhere – software, apps, videos, and even websites. These are like bombs waiting for a trigger, and in most cases, the trigger is the user. While making sure your computer devices are equipped for proper cyber security, talk to your child about the dangers of downloading files online, clicking links from social media posts or unsolicited email, and visiting infected sites.

These may contain malicious programs that will install itself and infect the device, stealing sensitive data, or corrupting the entire system. Phishing attacks via email target anyone, and if an attacker gets your child to give up the network password, all your devices will be in jeopardy.

Also, warn your child about illegal movie streaming websites that are loaded with malicious ad popups and viruses. Install security software on all your devices and always keep the antivirus and firewall activated. For additional security or if you are running a business on a network, learn more about what the best hardware firewall is for your needs.

Using Unsecure WiFi

Your kids need to know that public WiFi is not secure and hackers lie waiting for the most vulnerable devices to exploit. Even if an establishment like a mall or coffee shop has a WiFi password, the attacker can get it too if he’s there enjoying a latte.

For added safety and peace of mind when using free WiFi, get a trusted VPN (virtual private network) service and use it on all your devices. A VPN creates a tunnel that encrypts your traffic, hiding your real IP address and location from anyone snooping around. Even your ISP won’t know what you’re doing online.

In a Nutshell

The internet is everywhere, and reality dictates that your child will encounter a facet of the online world sooner rather than later. While the internet is a fantastic place where kids can learn anything under the sun, the parameters of having a borderless online world coupled with freedom and anonymity are what makes the situation a scary one for parents.

The fact is, the internet is an unsafe place despite all the good stuff about learning and discovery, which is why every parent should start educating their kids about cybersecurity at the earliest opportunity.

Daniel William is Content Director and a Cyber Security Director at IDStrong. His great passion is to maintain the safety of the organization’s online systems and networks.  

He knows that both individuals and businesses face the constant challenge of cyber threats. Identifying and preventing these attacks is a priority for Daniel.

The internet has opened up many opportunities and made our lives easier. However, it also made certain things more complicated. For example, parents have another big challenge to deal with – handling the digital habits of their kids.

Kids spend a lot of time online every day. It’s important to know what they are doing online and how this habit is affecting them. The internet offers a lot of learning opportunities, entertainment, and communication options to kids, but it has dangers as well.

These dangers can come in various forms. Here are some of the most important things you should pay attention to and how to protect your kids from them.

Learn More About the Internet Yourself

Kids learn really fast. As they grow older, they often surpass their parents with their knowledge. If your kid knows more than you, he or she can trick you easily. At the same time, how do you expect to protect your kids if you can’t protect yourself?

On top of that, the online world can change quickly. There are new apps, platforms, and sites becoming relevant each year. You need to know what they are about and how to use them. As a parent, you need to keep yourself continuously updated.

Make sure to keep track of what is relevant online. You can do this by merely using the web yourself and keeping an open mind while searching for how to best protect kids online.

Block Adult Sites and Other Harmful Content

You can’t expect to be present every time your kids are browsing the web. As a parent, you need to take time for yourself and catch a break from your kids. Luckily, you can block various online content to make sure your kids don’t access it.

There are various parental controls that you can choose from. These software programs block access to the most harmful sites, such as adult content. They also restrict access to websites that may not be harmful, but you don’t want your kids spending hours on. These may include social media networks and gaming sites.

Parental control software will also allow you to check the history and see what websites your kids visit, as well as send you reports on their internet searches. These tools are part of any internet safety check list for families.

Secure Your Networks

Everyone has home WiFi today. Just because they are common doesn’t mean that they don’t present a security threat. You never know who might try and access your network and intercept your data. First of all, make sure to create a strong password to ensure nobody else can connect.

Also, make sure to enable network encryption and reduce its range. Still, none of these things guarantee absolute safety. What you need to do is secure your connection to the network itself. You can do this by using a virtual private network.

There are various free VPN options to choose from. What’s even better is that they work on all devices that can be connected to the web.

Talk to Your Kids Regularly

Like with any other issue, you should talk with your kids about the internet. If you want them to learn how to use it the right way, you will have to teach them. Furthermore, it’s also a good idea to set an example whenever you are online when your children are around.

Tell them that not everyone online means good to them. Talk about hackers, cybercriminals, safe file sharing sites, bullies, and dangerous software. Explain how coming in contact with people they don’t know even if it’s just online.

Try and explain to them that the internet is not detached from their actions. Teach them accountability and the importance of how they behave. At the same time, look to turn their focus to positive things online and look to get them interested in quality content.

Install Proper Protection

No matter if we are talking about a computer or a mobile device, you need security software. Sometimes your kids will make mistakes. In those situations, you can’t leave them dry. Luckily, there are various antivirus and antimalware software.

These tools give you an extra security layer that will stop most attacks. Of course, some might go undetected, but it’s always a good idea to increase your chances of success. At the same time, make sure to update all your apps, software, and operating systems on all devices. These updates come with vital security patches that fix various vulnerabilities.

In the end, it’s important to be present and care for your kids. A lot of parents don’t pay attention to what their kids do online and how they perceive the internet. It can be difficult for parents to rationalize the web, particularly social media. You need to be there for your kids and give them the support they need.

With the ever-changing and advancing technology in today’s world, the majority of our lives are embedded within the virtual world. With this, so much is happening concurrently around us that we sometimes don’t notice. Especially for the non-tech savvy, a lot is going on within our devices and we don’t take notice.

Yet, as much as technology as brought with it benefits to help make our lives efficient, it also brings with it disadvantages such as risks of malware and potentially unwanted programs.

What is a Potentially Unwanted Program?

Potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) feature broad descriptions.  A PUP is basically a software that a user doesn’t use or want but consents for it to be downloaded anyways. These programs include adware, spyware or even certain features within the downloaded program you may have consented to without knowing. For example, when you are downloading a program, you may come across a pop up window a few steps before installation.

This pop-up window will have some terms and agreements asking you to consent or boxed options that may already be ticked. The majority of us normally consent to these otherwise suspicious requests without even taking the time to read the information. Sometimes, the programs may be malicious or simply take up extra space. However, generally, PUPs are not designed to penetrate your device to steal personal data or alter personal settings.

Does is Matter if Remove a PUP or Not?

Some proprietors of these programs don’t want them to be termed as malware because the device user or owner normally consents to their download and installation. PUPs do not act like classic malicious programs that damage, lose or steal your data. Thus, many users may ask themselves if it is actually worth their time to remove the PUPs from the device. The answer is yes. You should absolutely remove PUPs from your device.  

These programs are not beneficial to your device in any way, in fact, they simply bring on a nuisance. Plus, there are more reasons to support this recommendation. As much as potentially unwanted programs don’t pose dire risks to your devices, they can still be involved in an array of suspicious and unwanted activities within your windows device.

A PUP will sometimes function as a form of adware. It will do so by adding pop up adverts to clean webpages, post websites with their custom ads and sometimes, even prevent the user from closing down the pop-up ad until a video ad is finished.

Other PUPs will work as the classic adware by watching your online activities and trends, then selling the data to advertisers. Other PUPs change the default homepage of your browser then install a browser toolbar with no value and add bookmarks without the user’s knowledge. Additionally, PUPs can even work to hijack your searches and functions within the device.

These programs do this by redirecting you to their website when you are trying to visit a competitor website. The potentially unwanted programs go as far as changing your search results by inserting their favorable options into the search engine. So yes, PUPs can sometimes be destructed! And so, you must try your level best to prevent them from infecting your device.

How To Prevent PUP infection

The one key difference that PUPs hold compared to other “classic termed” malware attacks is that without your consent, they will never penetrate your device. Consequently, it should be relatively easier to prevent a PUP infection. The first step to reducing the risk of PUP infection is to always take extra precautions when installing free software and programs.

However, due to the lucrative and monetary gain, much of the legitimate software programs that are available for free on Windows do come with PUPs. Thus, if you pay extra attention during the installation process, you can opt to prevent the PUPs from being downloaded as well.

Opting Out of Installing Potentially Unwanted Programs

You should know that there are two ways you can download your software either through a standard or custom installation.

When you pick the custom installation option, the familiar ticked boxes will appear. Take the time to reviews the information that is next to these boxes to ensure no unwanted feature is installed along with the software.

No matter the installation option you are presented with, the custom option is always the best. This is because, through this option, you really get to know what you are installing into your device.

How To Get Rid Of PUP

If by any chance you have downloaded PUPs unknowingly, there is still a way you can remove them from your device. Removing potentially unwanted programs from your windows device isn’t exactly rocket science. There are two very simple ways you can get rid of PUPs. The first option is to invest in an anti-malware program that detects and removes PUPS as well.

Antimalware programs are designed to scan through the device, automatically detect PUPS and delete them from your device instantaneously. Antimalware programs such as Malware Fox is excellent for removing PUPs for your device.

Manual Removal of PUP

The second option is to remove the PUPs from your device manually. To do this, hold down the ALT, CTRL and DELETE keys to bring up the lock screen. Choose the “Task Manager” option, then, enter the “Processes” tab and examine the background applications that are currently running on your windows system.

Take note of the PUP name when you notice it and close down the task manager. The open up the control panel, head to “Uninstall Programs”, type out the PUP name and uninstall it. You should be good to go.

As much as the topic and concept of technology are broad, there is always a way to figure things out. Now that you have found out about PUPs, researching more the topic offers a lot of information on how to tackle the problem. To tackle PUP threats, anti-malware programs also offer detailed tips on how to prevent and address the PUPs on their sites.