Internet Security

 

Cybercrime is international and Singapore has seen its fair share of them. Last month, ZDNet.com reported that the average Singaporean loses more money to cybercrime compared to citizens of other countries. The article stated that Singaporeans experienced higher incidents of credit card fraud and identity theft due to their affluence. Credit card fraud and identity theft were also listed as the main generators of cybercriminal revenue, as opposed to viruses, malware, and online harassment.

I even remember the few instances whereby I experienced Internet security issues in the past few years. A few years ago, I received an email from a friend’s account, pleading for help. The email included details that my friend was on a mission trip to South Africa, but got robbed of her hand carry luggage while she was there, thus losing her money and travel documents. The email, which appeared to be sent from my friend, then asked recipients (I am sure I was not the only target) to send her a sum of money to help her through this difficulty. I immediately knew that my friend’s email account was hacked and the cyber criminal was using her account to solicit funds. Fortunately I could tell that something was amiss about that email, so I left it alone.

This was not the only time I have witnessed friends’ accounts being hacked, sometimes I would receive emails detailing a personal testimonial of how a friend managed to lose a lot of weight and asking friends to try out the new slimming formula. Most of these emails contain a link.

Some of my friends’ emails were not only hacked and used as tools for scams but also infected with viruses or worms. Some of my friends’ infected accounts start sending out multiple copies of the virus in a seemingly harmless, casual email asking friends to check out an interesting picture. However once the target clicks the link, the worm automatically downloads onto the users computer and generates multiple copies of itself, thereby spreading throughout the system.

I have also heard about friends’ experiences with phishing scams. They unknowingly give out personal information because they thought that their credit card is updating their information for a new security procedure.

Basically I think that anyone can be a victim of such Internet scams once we let our guard down. People tend to take the Internet for granted once they use it often and not everyone is well educated on the dangers of the Internet. Even if people understand the dangers of the Internet and the potential of cybercrimes, many may still be unaware of how cybercrime has evolved over the years, and cannot recognize how a piece of malware behaves on their computer. However if everyone stays vigilant and stay updated in terms of cybercrime, many of us can protect ourselves from such online dangers.  

Computers can be installed with virus scanners and trackers, which are able to recognize which files are not safe sources. My personal practice is also to read the emails I receive carefully and take the text in the emails into context before deciding whether the attached file is indeed something interesting my friend chose to share with me or a malicious program in disguise. I also make sure I keep my software up to date and avoid pirated softwares altogether. I believe that Internet security is very important at home and at work. Downtime can cause a lot of inconvenience, not to mention loss of opportunities. Therefore, everyone should play an active role in the prevention of cybercrime.