How to digitally protect yourself during COVID-19

Now that so many of us are working from home, we’ve seen a major uptick in cyber attacks and threats to our cyber security. While we certainly need to be protecting ourselves and others from a health standpoint right now, we also need to be taking the proper precautions to protect ourselves digitally.The shift to everyone working from home makes it a more fertile landscape because corporations are generally much more capable of protecting their computers than individual people at home are. If you think about when you’re at the office, you’d have a security department, an IT department, and it’s their job to maintain that security. But at home, it now becomes your job. Most people don’t have the skills, knowledge or expertise necessary to keep everything entirely secure, which is why we’re seeing such a boom time for cyber crime right now.So who is at risk for getting hacked, and why?The number one thing about hacking: it is most often not personal, it’s automated. These are automated attacks coming from software that crawls around the web looking for computers to penetrate, accounts to highjack, and personal information to gather – because there’s money to be made here. The target could be your personal information (markets to sell stolen personal info), it could be stolen accounts (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc...), it could be simply selling remote control of your computer to whoever wants to buy it. Fundamentally, 98 per cent is done for money, 1 per cent is done for fun, and 1 per cent is done for espionage, whether that be corporate or state-based.And this is also the number one reason why you need to take cyber security seriously, because it isn’t personal. They aren’t going after you individually, they are going after as many targets as possible. Some automated software can make thousands of attempts per second. The scale is remarkable.Digital expert Jesse Hirsh shares tips on how to protect yourself digitally below and in the video clip above.

KNOW YOUR OPTIONS

Cyber security researchers have been very critical of the company’s practices, which are just not up to standards. We’ve likely all heard about ‘Zoom bombing’, where uninvited guests enter or eavesdrop on Zoom meetings and calls. If you’re having a meeting that has any kind of sensitive information, you don’t want your competitors or some random kid jumping into that meeting and sabotaging it. This is a valid concern. Think of Zoom as a public square. If you’re comfortable having your meetings out in the open where anyone can walk in, then Zoom is good for you. If you want your meetings in a corporate boardroom, maybe it’s not your best choice.The other security issue with Zoom is its password practices and encryption. Someone could easily steal your account and pretend that they’re you. Someone could interfere with your account and change how you communicate with it, and with whom. If you do have a choice, remember that there are alternative platforms – none of the tools that we rely on these days are exclusive. Google and Facebook both have a Zoom alternative that is open source and secure.

UNDERSTAND HOW YOUR ROUTER WORKS

If you’re using a less secure application, perhaps because you have no choice, that just puts more emphasis on the rest of your computer hygiene. That includes basics like having good password practices, running all updates, using two-factor authentication (so that someone would need to access your mobile even if they guess your application password). But the larger thing that Jesse really wants to impress on people right now: understand how your router works. If you think about it, we’re all now dependent on internet access, so maybe we should put more effort into understanding how it takes place in our home.Your router has a lot of features to protect your privacy and security. Similarly, if your router gets hacked, you’re really in trouble. That’s the lynch pin, the device that controls the entire home’s internet. Your router probably has a fire wall to increase security. It also probably has security measures that limit if one of the machines is hacked. Jesse suggests you nominate someone in the household to check the default settings and see what options you have to amp up the security features. It is essential to change default settings, hackers know your default settings.[video_embed id='1934649']How to protect your privacy when using video call apps[/video_embed]

CHANGE YOUR ROUTER PASSWORD

Changing the password on your router is a major one. Another might be, changing the name of the wireless network –so instead of it being ‘Bell1234’, you could change it to another name. You don’t want people to know which network you’re on. A lot of the firewall and security features are things you want to change. They usually aren’t turned on as strongly as they could. There are some routers that have anti virus or anti malware controls. So that router itself can protect the network and alert you if anything strange happens. You should adjust your router to suit your household needs. The router has an infinite amount of configurations, and the more knowledge you have, the more powerful and protective it can be against cyber attacks.

KEEP YOUR SYSTEM UPDATED

In a broader sense, Jesse would argue that most hacks are ones you wouldn’t be able to detect. They are successful primarily because there are no symptoms. People can be hacked for months and not know it. One of the easiest and unknowing ways to undo an attack or repair yourself is to just do the updates. Sometimes, someone will hack you and as soon as you run the update they’re locked out again. This is one way in which you inadvertently fix an infection because you’re patching the hole they got into.There are different types of anti-malware and security software that, in theory (but not always in practice) will tell you when you’ve been hacked. But remember, they aren’t always successful.In general, Jesse tends to trust the tools that are put out by companies who make the operating system.[video_embed id='1941534']Watch out for these Canadian Emergency Response Benefit scam text messages[/video_embed]

IT'S OK TO BE A LITTLE PARANOID

The Venn diagram between paranoia and good computer security is almost a complete overlap. You can never be too paranoid because risks are real. On one hand, keep your computer camera covered when not using it. If the camera and mic are connected and external, unplug them.If you're using smart speakers: and smart home devices, this is a larger question. This is another reason why your router is key to network security. Having a greater view or ability to scrutinize whats happening on your network makes it easy to identify suspicious activity.It all comes down to a trade off between convenience and security. The more convenience, the less security. The same security logic applies to all your smart devices. Make sure you apply passwords, educate yourself on how to do a factory reset, change default passwords.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU READ (AND CLICK ON)

The other side of this cyber attack boom is disinformation and conspiracy theories: trying to fool people and manipulate people. One purpose of the misinformation and conspiracy IS to get you to click on something that takes over your computer. If you think there is some secret truth or cure to coronavirus ‘if you click on this link’, as far as bait, it’s a very tempting bait. But the other purpose is to increase confusion, fear and uncertainty. This is all the more reason why people should be careful of what they click, share, and read.In the best of times, be critical of what you see. But now stakes are even higher, because this impacts our public health campaigns, and it impacts views on physical distancing.[video_embed id='1835909']BEFORE YOU GO: How identity thieves carry out their scams and find victims[/video_embed]