The Internet is indeed a fascinating paradox. While it has brought unparalleled transformation and bridged the knowledge gap on one hand, it has given room for some unimaginable security issues on the other hand. As someone who has to educate people weekly on technology issues across various platforms, I often come across rather troubling security issues during research.
Let me briefly share details of two major developments that occurred in the last few weeks. The first was the story of a Jeep that hacked while in motion through its connected entertainment system and was remotely controlled by the two ethical hackers/researchers who performed the feat. The vehicle was on top speed and they took complete control of its acceleration plus braking system making it a very dangerous development and one that sort of casts doubt on the future of connected cars. This experiment led to the recall of that brand of cars across the United States. As that was making waves, another major security flaw was discovered that exposed about one billion android phones to what is known as the stagefright vulnerability, which is also quite alarming. Imagine a group of hackers having access to one billion phones, isn’t that enough to cause worldwide havoc?
We honestly do not have a choice but to live with the reality that no one is fully safe online and it is our responsibility to protect ourselves as much as we can. The case of my mentor is apt at this point. He is someone that is highly respected in the society and one of the very early users of the Internet — so, his Yahoo account was very precious to him because he got it a few days after yahoo officially launched. To cut the story short, his email account was hacked and the hacker changed the password and also changed the security question and answer, then went ahead to send an email to all his contacts asking for help. The hacker informed his friends that he was stranded in Dubai and one of friends actually did send some money across. This gentleman thought it would be easy to get the email back and he went as far as using his personal contacts in the US to get in touch with Yahoo directly, yet the email did not get restored to date.
What’s my point in sharing the above story? Any account can get compromised, irrespective of how highly or lowly placed the individual is, which leads me to the first tip I would like to share today:
Be security conscious
You just have to be train yourself to think security each time your visit the Internet whether from your PC, phone or tablet. The discipline to change your password as frequently as you can should be a part of your DNA going forward.
Use a good password manager
Anyone who has followed this column since inception knows that I have always stressed the importance of this. In fact, a group of top cyber security experts released a report recently and the need to use a secured password manager came tops on their list of security tips.
Setup two-factor authentication
This basically means that before you can get access to your account, you need to login two ways; first, the regular step of entering your username and password and then you would need to also enter a code that will be sent to your phone or that you can collect from an app.
Two-factor authentication makes it harder for a hacker to gain access to your account because of the difficulty of accessing both forms of login at the same time. Most major Internet services have this feature but it is not compulsory yet, so, you must activate it if you’d like it to be active on your account. I personally have this activated on all my major accounts, anyone who gets access to my password would certainly be asked to enter a code and my phone is needed to get that code.
Create more security awareness around you
It helps if those around you are security conscious too as it makes you more secure. Let me give an illustration, assuming a friend comes to visit and decides to use your laptop to surf the Internet, say while on it he sees an urgent email asking him to download the LPO for the supply and he ignorantly downloads the file infecting your system along the way. This may not be the best of examples but it sort of drives home the point that it is not enough for you alone to know, others particularly in an office environment must also be aware.
No one is 100 per cent safe online and I mean it when I say no one. Just about any online asset can be breached one way or the other. The CIA, NSA, FBI and even the White House in the US have all had their fair share of breaches. For instance, Nigeria’s Indpendent National Electoral Commission had its website defaced during the heat of the last general elections. My point here is that anything can indeed happen online, so be prepared!
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