Are you security savvy?
The Camden Advertiser published a piece today arguing that parents, in order to properly educate their children, should become more savvy about internet security and safety. But how educated is the average adult when it comes to cyber security? Many online security experts would agree that the average internet user is woefully ignorant when it comes to these issues. Speaking before a panel in July, Michael Stawasz, senior counsel for the computer crime and intellectual property section at the U.S. Department of Justice, told the audience that online attacks and security breaches are becoming more common, mostly as a result of poor decisions made by online users.
"You don't have to be that technically sophisticated to commit a cybercrime now," he said. "You don't have to be a computer genius to partner with other criminals, or to purchase what you need to commit these crimes." In fact, both Berglas and Stawasz said it's difficult to define what a computer hacker or cybercriminal actually looks like, simply because the people who are doing it are so varied. Based on what he's seen, Stawasz said it's fair to say there are more male cyber criminals than there are women. Not only are juveniles committing these crimes, but adults and older adults are too, he added.
Stawasz said that in many instances, hackers aren't even committing the crimes for monetary gain, but rather simply for the challenge of doing so. He explained that many companies are too reliant on anti-virus and security software; though it's often helpful, it could never replace the benefits of practicing safe internet use. Webroot, a provider of internet security software, recently released the results of a survey that found that "members of online social networks may be more vulnerable to financial loss, identity theft and malware infection than they realize." The company surveyed 1,100 accounts on major social media sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, Twitter, etc.) and discovered several security flaws in a large percentage of the profiles, including:
# Two-thirds of respondents don't restrict any details of their personal profile from being visible through a public search engine like Google; # Over half aren't sure who can see their profile; # About one third include at least three pieces of personally identifiable information; # Over one third use the same password across multiple sites; and # One quarter accept "friend requests" from strangers
Webroot reported that these security flaws make users particularly vulnerable to phishing scams, which hinge on convincing internet users to give up critical security information for banking and other online accounts.
"Hackers lure users into taking actions they shouldn't by making it appear as if a friend within their social network has sent them a message - only the message is from a hacker who's hijacked the friend's account," continued Kronenberg. "We've seen instances where a salacious yet poorly worded message like, 'This video of u is evrywhere' includes a link that, when clicked, prompts the user to download a seemingly legitimate file which, once on your PC, can do a number of things -- spam your friends, monitor your online activity or record your personal information."
Most phishing scams can be avoided if users take care to check the URLs of any sites where they give up password information. Be wary if you receive an email claiming that you must log into a profile, and when possible manually type in the URL to your personal banking website when you need to access your account.