Why Are Online Security Measures Necessary For Someone Like Me?
Written by Dominique Miller, at Trinity SS Wellness and Consulting
How safe are you online?
Cybercrimes have increased SEVERAL THOUSAND PERCENT since the beginning of the pandemic, and digital safety and hygiene are more important now than ever before. Are you inadvertently exposing yourself, your loved ones, your finances, or your identity to theft online?
Email
example@example.com
Name
First Name
Last Name
What is the best way to store your login (username) and password information for the apps and websites you use?
*
Write it all down on paper
Make my usernames and passwords words I can remember easily
Save my logins and passwords somewhere in my phone and hope that there aren’t any errors connecting to the virtual (apple, google, etc.) database
Hope and pray about it and change information only when I’ve forgotten it and am frustrated
Use an end-to-end encrypted storage locker application
Other
What is end-to-end encryption?
*
Who knows? It doesn’t apply to me. I’ll take my chances of losing my entire identity and every cent I have ever earned because I really want to take Facebook quizzes.
A type of taco…probably
A means of securing data, by breaking up and then scrambling information between two sources, sort of like how the Navajo Code Talkers did, circa WWII
All of the above
Why is end-to-end encryption important
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Because I don’t want my friends to know what I’m saying about them behind their backs
Because it keeps information secure, and no hacker, scammer, or bad actor can access it, no matter what
Because it confuses me
Because it helps us to protect our rights to privacy, and keeps information secure
I literally do not care
Because it both keeps information secure, AND protects our rights to privacy, and it keeps my friends from hearing my gossip too--assuming that my friends are white hat hackers who are capable of getting into my devices and networks...
All of the above
None of the above
Which of the following Facebook quizzes is safe to take
*
Quizzes about dogs
Quizzes about politics
No Facebook quizzes are safe to take, as they all harvest your personal data
You receive a message on Facebook, or via email or text from a well known friend, with a link in it. What should you do?
*
Click it. Obviously.
Mindlessly click whatever pops up in front of you
Be suspicious, but still click it
Contact that friend or family member on a more trusted medium, like by way of a text or phone call, and confirm that they meant to send you that link and what the link is to, before you click
Don’t click it; move on with your day
Why is your online security and hygiene important?
*
I’m older, or single, or don’t have much money, or don’t feel important, so it’s really not. People who tell me it is are just blowing things out or proportion, really
I don’t know. I’m just humoring whomever sent me this quiz
I don’t care if I lose all of my money, so it’s not important at all
I don’t care what websites and malicious programs track me, take my data, or try to influence my political beliefs. It just doesn’t matter.
It matters because I want to keep my family safe
It matters because I want to keep my finances safe
It matters because I deserve and have the right to my own safety and privacy
SOME of the above: It matters because I want to keep my family safe, I want to keep my finances safe, and I deserve and have the right to my own safety and privacy
What kinds of information can scammers get from me online, if I don’t enact basic security measures?
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My bank account information
My investment account information
Personal health information that is meant to be viewed and/or updated only by me and my doctor
Information about my family members, friends, loved ones, and colleagues
Information about my sexual health and preferences
Information about which movies, podcasts, radio shows, music, news, political commentary, and tv shows I enjoy
Information about what tv shows, movies, music, podcasts, radio shows, news, and political commentary content I have watched, have commented on, have interacted with, have “liked” on social media platforms, and what things I probably WILL watch, listen to, and/or engage with
What websites I am going to, who I am talking to, what I am saying, what I think, what I believe, and whom I vote for and why
What websites I probably WILL go to, who I probably WILL talk to, what I probably WILL say, who I probably WILL vote for, and what they can convince me to believe, to their financial benefit
All of the above
How do scammers, thieves, or other online bad faith individuals or groups find regular old everyday people like me?
*
By first targeting people I may be connected to online
By performing keyword searches on social media or online search websites like Google
By creating “sock puppet” accounts on websites like eBay and Facebook, then pretending to be either a buyer or seller of goods and/or services, or pretending to be someone I know
All of the above
But I can’t really be a target, can I? After all, I’m no one ‘important’ in the grand scheme of things...
*
Gosh, I suppose I really COULD be targeted--maybe I even make a good target. I guess I'd better start taking some simple precautions
I don't know...I still can't imagine why someone would target me...
No. I'm too smart. I'd see a scam coming.
But why would I make a good target? And why would any scammers, thieves, or other bad faith actors even bother with me, when there are richer, more well known, or more ‘important’ targets out there?
*
More important targets likely have better security
Well known wealthy folks probably have better security
Normal, everyday people like me often don’t have the basic knowledge or information we need, in order to protect ourselves—unless we have an IT professional in our friendship or family circle
All of the above
Which of these options can help to keep me safe as I browse the internet?
*
Using a VPN, which helps to disguise my IP address, and what I’m doing online, going into my device’s settings and turning on my built in firewall, and clicking the “limit IP address tracking” button on my wifi settings
Typing random words and phrases into the “what’s new” section on Facebook, and then accidentally hitting send
Yelling out my usernames and passwords like I’m Sean Spicer at a White House Press Briefing
All of the above
Are device (i.e. smart phone, laptop, desktop, or tablet) protection software programs a scam?
*
While some security/protection programs are used by scammers to target people, most virus protection and other similar device protection software is legit. You just have to find the right protection for your specific device
Yes! Always! Just like that goddamned rental car insurance I always get offered when I have to rent a car
What are some of the most popular scams perpetrated online?
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Adoption fraud, concerning adoption of humans or animals
Ransomware scams, where a scammer or ring of scammers convinces a business entity or individual that their data has been compromised, usually via email, and sometimes via messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger or LinkedIN, asks them to click a link they send, and then ACTUALLY compromises their data, which was totally safe UNTIL the person who received the email or message actually clicked the link they were sent by the scammer/scammers, at which point the scammer/scammers demand ransom to unlock their target's data
Business/Investment Fraud scams, where scammer/s ask targets to join them in a business venture or to loan them money.
Telemarketing scam which, if the target answers, often proceed similarly to help desk and refund scams
419 Scams, where a scammer/scammers convince a target--often someone who appears less than tech savvy, or a widow or widower, that they are a handsome or beautiful person--often an active duty member of the armed forces or an oil rig worker or freight shipping worker that they are "stuck" in whatever country they claim to be in, and need financial assistance so that they can come home and be with you--the target--whom of course they claim to love and adore
Nigerian prince scams (or similar), where the scammer/scammers pretend to be a Nigerian prince, princess, queen, or king who simply found your email address, and won't you please help them, because they'll be lucky if they fire this email off before their enemies gut them like a fish, so you'd better help them right now, and if you do (spoiler alert: "helping" them usually includes, you guessed it, sending them a metric crap ton of money, which of course they will pay you back handsomely for, once they reach safety--after all, they are royalty)
Election Day scams, where you receive a call or message that election days/times have changed, or that your polling place has changed
Social security fraud, where scammers call you, email you, or text message you, claiming that they are from the SSA. Note: the social security administration never calls people, and claims like "your social security number is paused/locked," or "someone is using your social security number (usually some scary sound criminal, whom the scammer/s have made up out of whole cloth)" are nonsense. Neither of those statements are in any way connected to real things that can or do happen at the Social Security Administration, or with YOUR personal social security number
So-called "Sextorsion Scams," wherein a scammer or group of scammers contacts their target, posing as a romantic interest, then asks for intimate pictures and/or videos, then defrauds their target, by extorting money from them, with the threat of blackmail (i.e. you'd better send me money, or I'll show your family your 'embarrassing' intimate pictures/videos). This scam is often perpetrated against married folks or folks in committed relationships, or high level business or political leaders, but it is a VERY common, low effort scam, that's easy for scammers to perpetrate, and that has a rather enviable risk/benefit breakdown in favor of the scammer/s
Medicare scams (see Social Security scams, which are often similar to Medicare scam in terms of how the scam is perpetrated and how the target is contacted)
Help desk/your computer is infected with a virus scams, where a scammer/scammers contact someone via a pop-up ad, phone call, text message, or email, pretending to be an IT professional, and then convincing their target to log into their phone or computer, download an app (usually anydesk, teamviewer, or something similar), ask the person to log into their banking website, and then either taking control of their computer and draining this and other bank accounts belonging to their target, or convincing their target to go out and buy a bunch of gift cards and send them to the scammer/scammers
Refund scams, which operate similarly to the way that a help desk/IT help scam operates, only rather than telling their target simply that their device is infected with such and such, the scammer/scammers tell their target that they overpaid for a service, or purport to represent a company where their target allegedly pays for a subscription that they don't use, then asks if the target wants to cancel the subscription. Usually the scammer/scammers tell their subjects to enter in the refund amount they would like AFTER they take control of their subject's device through one of the apps I mentioned above, and then immediately enter in incorrect information, and tell their subject that they accidentally entered in too much money for their desired refund, and that if they don't send the appropriate amount of money BACK to the company (read: the scammer/s) immediately, they will call law enforcement and report their target. The target of these scams often panics and sends the money, only to find out they never received a refund at all, and that this was a scam, and oftentimes leaving the malicious software they were asked to download by the scammer/s on their device
Engage in call spoofing scams, where they may pretend to call or text from the number of a friend or family member or their target's, or where they establish what's called a VOIP internet number--a sometimes free, sometimes paid online phone number that can't easily be traced back to anyone, in order to convince you that they live in your area, so that you'll be more likely to pickup, so that they can initiate their scam
All of the above, and more!
What can I do to avoid being scammed, or exposing personal data to scammers?
*
Use a trustworthy vpn
Use an end-to-end encrypted data storage locker for logins (usernames), passwords, and other sensitive data, and keep my master password to the end-to-end encrypted storage locker I chose
Make sure that I don't answer calls from numbers I don't know. If it's important, an email and/or voicemail will be sent
Never disclose personal information to anyone online or on the phone for any reason, period
If I am selling or buying something online, I can vet potential buyers or sellers
All of the above
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