Data protection and online safety
Define
On the Internet we are exposed to various security risks:
- Cyberbullism/Digital predators
- Privacy attempts
- Phishing and smishing
- Scams
- Malware
Emails, Social Networks, Instant Messaging, online gaming platforms are the tools that are mostly used for “attacks”
Identify
Cyberbullism can manifest itself through various phenomena:
| Phishing and smishing: e-mails or malicious text messages that attempt to trick the user into clicking on harmful links or attachments or more simply to enter information on a malicious site. |
| Scams: cybercriminals use popular sites to identify potential victims, and then offer free goods or services in exchange for credit card or personal information. |
| Malware: computer software installed without the victim's knowledge or permission, performing malicious actions on the computer. These include the theft or appropriation of personal information. The user is tricked into downloading the malware in very subtle ways. Phishing is one of the traps used for this purpose, but there are many others, including convincing victims to download games or send a link in a Whatsapp message. |
Act
- Protect your devices using appropriate and safe passwords, two-factor authentication.
- Install an anti-virus software and keep operating system and browser updated
- Use browsers (such as Chrome and Firefox) that contain tools for verifying the sites that are visited and have built-in protection mechanisms that block access to malicious sites.
- Protect your smartphone using an unlock code that is not too simple (e.g. date of birth) and, if your smartphone allows it, use biometric protection systems (fingerprint, facial recognition).
- Pay close attention to SMS and Whatsapp messages that contain links: NEVER click on links unless you know the sender and know the content of the message
- Beware of apps that you download from the stores, they may contain malware / addware that installs on your smartphone.
- Activate the geolocation systems that can be useful in case of theft
- Activate the phone blocking and cancellation systems even remotely
- Carefully verify an email before opening it (sender identity and scope of the email).
DO NOT CLICK ON ANY SUSPECT EMAILS
- Reply to e-mails only after verifying that you know the sender and that the address you reply to corresponds to a “valid” address.
- Do not use e-mail to send sensitive data or documents that contain personal data. If you cannot use other means, use protection tools such as “zip” the file by putting a password on the generated zip file. There are free tools like 7zip that allow you to do this.
- Help people understand the risks for privacy and safety that come from Social Network and Instant Messaging platform.
- All platforms have tricks and settings that allow you to limit the visibility of an account and its contents to friends only, but malicious people continually create new accounts to try to get the friendship of the people they are interested in.
- Never accept people you don’t know among your friends and delete them immediately if in doubt.
- Avoid posts or images that are too personal or intimate that could be used by attackers for stalking.
- Never click on links or open received files unless you are absolutely sure of their origin.
