PEOPLE have been urged to adopt a cautious approach when engaging in online activities.
This comes after a recent spate of cyber attacks on individuals.
Niel van Rooyen, head of Information Security at Vox, said hackers have designed more elaborate tactics to compromise people’s financial information and steal their identity.
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He said the festive season becomes an opportunity for fraudsters to exploit people’s goodwill.
“Fake charity scams are not unique to the internet. But when combined with all the Covid-19 scams that have been flooding our devices the past several months, it is easy to have one slip through and donate by accident.
“The best way to mitigate the risk of this happening is to phone the charity and confirm the outreach to your device.
“The minute or two it takes to make a call can save you countless hours of trying to recover your funds and change your online banking details,” explained Van Rooyen.
He said another familiar, but largely ignored, tactic is to keep your mobile device locked when you are not using it.
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According to Van Rooyen, lost or stolen phones and tablets are perhaps one of the most significant causes of compromised personal data. If your device supports it, activate the biometrics security feature.
He said this would then require either a retinal or full face scan to unlock the device.
“At the very least you must lock your phone or tablet with a strong password that contains upper and lowercase characters, special characters (for example $,%, &) and at least one number.”
He pointed out that one of the most critically important lessons is to never use public Wi-Fi networks especially when it comes to your online banking and shopping.
“Even though it is tempting to use the Wi-Fi available at a coffee shop, restaurant, or shopping centre, rather switch your wireless access off completely.”
He said using specialised tools, hackers can ‘eavesdrop’ on these public networks and steal your passwords and other details without you being any the wiser.
“Now, when it comes to your device, it is important to always keep your apps and operating system (whether it is Android, iOS, or something else) up to date with the latest patches. These contain essential security features that protect you against some of the latest developments in cyberattacks,” he added.
He also advised people to uninstall applications they do not use.
“Not only will this free up additional storage space, but it also reduces your digital footprint by eliminating potential weak points in your security.
“It is advisable to disable your location settings when you are out and about,” he added.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
Dear reader, As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19. Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za). At the time of publication, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations.
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