Keeping Home Computers and Mobile Phones Cyber Safe

When my mother got a message saying that her online banking account is getting suspended and she needs to provide her account details to reactivate her online account, she clicked on the link and provided her account details. Soon she got a call from the bank call center asking her to verify her account details. After she verified her account details they re-activated her online account and asked her to provide the passcode received on her mobile to confirm that. As soon as she gave the passcode, she lost one lakh rupees from her account. She became the latest victim of a growing number of phishing scams in India. Though she complained to the authorities, she did not get back her money.

All over the world, cyber crime is on the rise and individuals need to take care of their safety online, same as we take care of our physical security. In an increasingly digital world, especially post pandemic, where every human being has a digital / online exposure, basic safety has to be practiced by every household and each individual. Basic things like locking our doors and windows have to be practiced online as well.

Any device connected to internet (be it a home computer or a smart phone) is exposed to outside world. Below are 12 tips, to take care of basic safety in an online world.

1.     Have a strong password (minimum 8 characters including some numbers, special characters, which are not easy to guess) and change password once in 3 – 4 months

2.     Have an anti virus installed on your computer.

• It could be some paid software like Kaspersky/Norton or some freeware like Avast or AVG
• Having a basic anti virus running with up to date signature database provides basic protection from malware.

3.     Don’t use pirated software. Always use paid/licensed version of any software.

• Pirated software downloaded from unknown sources will have malware in that (which can steal your confidential data)

4.     Install latest patches

• Always have up to date patches / updates for your (Windows) OS and other software (especially security patches)
• Security loop holes uncovered gets patched by all software vendors. So not having latest patches makes your computer vulnerable.

5.     Use latest version of any software

• Old version of software will have vulnerabilities which are easy for malware to exploit

6.     Don’t click on any links in suspicious emails or open any attachments from unknown sources

• Clicking on suspicious links in emails, may take you to a malicious website (which can infect your computer with a malware). Similarly opening an attachment like word doc which have embedded macros can lead to malware infection.

7.     Browse internet safely

• Avoid visiting websites which are providing illicit content. They usually inject malware to your computer while browsing
• Use a modern web browser like MS Edge or Google Chrome or a privacy focused browser like DuckDuckGo
• Type in the web site address on the browser (instead of clicking on links in emails) to make sure you are going to the right web site instead of getting to an imposter website (for ex difference between www.Infosys.com and www.lnfosys.com is very difficult to make out -> second website starts with lowercase L and is not uppercase i)

8.     Don’t fall for Phishing

• Phishing can happen over email, SMS or even phone calls.
• Don’t fall for any message asking you to click on a link / provide some details for something urgent (like disconnecting your electricity, account expiry etc).

9.     Restrict the amount of personal information shared on internet / public websites

• Don’t share unwanted information (DoB, email, phone number, photos etc) on public sites
• Keep in mind that any information you share online (on any website) can potentially reach malicious actors.
• You can search with your name to find out what information about you is available online publicly

10.  Don’t use USB drives which you don’t own

• Any USB drive which you get from a public place will mostly have malware. Don’t plug them into your computer. First you need to format them and scan using an anti virus software before connecting to your computer.

11.  Turn on in built-in firewall in Windows

12.  Start using Microsoft Defender, which is available free with Windows 10 and above.

The above are applicable for a home computer/mobile phone. For an office computer/laptop, more advanced security measures are usually implemented, as part of organizational security policy.

This article is written by me in CETAA Souvenir 2022 published as part of the Silver Jubilee celebrations of our batch (1992 - 1996).